Nothing I've Ever Known
by xxlaura
Summary: A new deskwatcher comes to the New York MP team but the team doesn't appreciate this intrusion. What is it about her past that makes her so different? And how will she deal with the annoyingly handsome Danny Taylor? [DannyOC.Over 8400! reads.T for future]
1. 001: I Feel Like A Leaf In A Breeze

001: I Feel Like a Leaf in a Breeze

Tossing her long, dark red, wavy hair over her shoulder, Angela Harper smoothed her black blazer over her waist as her eyes flickered nervously up to the numbers over the elevator doors. The number nine changed to ten and Angela took a deep breath as she tried to compose herself, knowing that in less than twenty seconds her life would be taking a drastic change.

The elevator doors finally opened, and she began to walk down the hall in a confident manner. However as she took her fourth or fifth step, she soon realized that she had no idea where she needed to go next. All she was told was to report at the New York FBI office for Missing Persons. And so here she was. Floor twelve. Missing Persons. 7:30 AM, on the dot.

Angela took several more tentative steps, trying to look as if she belonged. Looking around, she saw people moving all around her, working almost seamlessly with one another. A file was passed from a slender blonde to a man with cute light brown hair then slid across the table to a focused-looking black woman and finally handed off to a tall, dark man—

Angela's steps slowed as she eyed him with interest as he moved around the table with the file in hand. Before she could even think, her eyes traced his slim profile. Even from where he was standing, she could see a charismatic grin playing with his lips.

Completely lost in her own thoughts, Angela nearly walked head on into a chair placed in the hallway. She quickly realized the object in front of her and redirected her path as subtlety as possible, praying that no one had seen her very un-Angela-like clumsy maneuver.

"Special Agent Angela Harper."

It wasn't a question; it was almost an order.

Turning sharply, Angela saw an older, commanding man walking towards her. Everything about him mandated respect. From his analyzing stare to his short grey hair, this without a doubt had to be—

"Special Agent Jack Malone," he said briskly, extending his hand to her.

She took it and embraced it in a firm handshake. One of her pet peeves was people with weak handshakes.

"You get a little lost?" Jack asked her, his eyes flickering for the briefest moment to the chair that she had almost tripped over. His voice was hard, but Angela caught the trace of a small grin on his face.

"Oh, uh, no," she replied with an awkward smile that was more like a grimace. "I just… noticed that it looks like the Dallas office. More than I thought it would anyways."

"You'll find that most of them do look a lot alike. Except maybe the Chicago offices." A small muscle in his lower jaw twitched before he gestured to a large office behind a pair of double glass doors. "Let's talk in my office for awhile before I let this place begin to rip you apart."

"FBI offices do that," she commented as she followed Jack's lead behind the glass doors.

Jack's office was a strong mixture of modern metallic and welcoming wood features. The chairs they sat in were plush ebony arm chairs and his desk was a classic black with a glass top. The floors were deep-grained wood and the walls were partly of the same, beautiful wood, but they were mostly large glass panels that gave him a full view of all the work that took place around him. The walls were littered with various diplomas and achievement awards showing that this man had been in the business for a long time.

"An impressive resume as a field agent," Jack said, taking some pieces of paper from a manila folder. "How long have you been working for the FBI?"

"Two years as a tech right out of college—"

"Where?"

"Stanford."

Jack inclined his head slightly to acknowledge the school as he continued to look at her file.

"Uh, two years as a tech to get my footing in the Bureau. And then I was a field agent for five years. Or it would have been five years in January."

"And this transfer sent in by Agent Beckers… you specifically requested for a desk-watching or tech job. Why the sudden change?"

This was the question that Angela had prayed that he or anyone for that mater would ask. Wasn't it just enough to say "because I just do?"

Apparently not.

Angela was silent for a few moments, trying to figure out what to say when Jack nodded slowly in understanding.

"Agent Beckers told me," Jack said, his voice slightly lower and softer than before. "About what happened in May."

Her eyes shot up to meet his. She felt anger, betrayal, relief, embarrassment, and fear all at the same time. She wasn't sure what to say, so she simply remained silent.

"Now I admire you trying to grasp hold of your situation after that incident and not forcing yourself back into the field," Jack continued. "And to be truthful, you've come at an opportune moment. Your timing of transfer couldn't have been better."

Angela's eyes seemed to ask the question before the words could form in her mouth.

"Our team…" Jack glanced out the window to his right to the four people outside sitting around a table. "We're going through a hard time. We're all strained, and the job is really taking its toll since there are only five of us. I hired an extra field agent last year, hoping to add some fresh blood and to take the stress off, but it completely backfired." Jack sighed heavily. "They're frustrated with each other and with themselves. Adding another field agent would surely tear the entire team apart. But then I heard that Michael Beckers was going to transfer one of his agents who just wanted to watch a desk. It seemed perfect. My plan here is to allow an extra agent on site with you in the office, checking numbers, backgrounds, and other office stuff. You'll probably be working with the tech crew somewhat too."

"That's basically what I had in mind as well, Agent Malone."

"Jack," he corrected her.

His eyes flashed outside the window to find all four of this agents looking into the office. They stared coldly for only a second, and then they turned away, unabashed at being caught.

"There's, uh, just one more thing," Jack said almost hesitantly as he turned his gaze back to Angela. "The team, as I said, is rather… strained, and really _did not_ appreciate the last addiction to the team. I had to transfer her to Miami less than a year into her stay in New York. So adding you… I'm hoping they'll take to you better than Agent Delgado."

"But I'm not really a field agent anymore," Angela reasoned, feeling slightly uncomfortable. "So I'm not really part of the 'team.'"

"Oh, you are," Jack said seriously, "but they won't think so. Of course you may seem less threatening as a desk-watcher, but I'm just going to warn you to not expect… a warm welcome. Even colder than a typical FBI welcome. I'm hoping after time they'll get used to the idea. But…"

"I understand, Agent—Jack."

"Good," he said, standing up. "Now I'll show you to your desk and then we have to return to our current case."

Jack ushered her quickly out of his office over to where the rest of the team was residing. Now that she knew what she was facing, Angela was almost dreading meeting the people who she would be working with for the next at least four to five years.

As she and Jack approached them, it became apparent that they either didn't hear them walking towards them or didn't care that they were listening.

"…not really going to be part of the team," the brown-haired man was saying. "Jack said she was just going to be a desk watcher."

"Who also just came out of the Dallas office as a five year field agent," the blonde woman said, looking pointedly at him. "What field agent requests a desk job?"

"Maybe she couldn't take the pressure," the black woman said, crossing her arms.

"Whatever the reason," the tall, dark ("and handsome," Angela's mind added subconsciously) man said. "The only members that concern this team are already here. I don't need some pencil-pushing wannabe field agent out of Dallas telling me what—"

"This is Agent Angela Harper," Jack said loudly as they finally reached the rest of the team.

The team turned and observed her, looking thoroughly unimpressed.

"This is Agent Martin Fitzgerald," Jack said, nodding to the cute brown-haired man. Martin simply raised his hand in recognition and moved his mouth a little as if he was trying for a welcoming smile. "Agent Samantha Spade—" the attractive blonde— "Agent Vivian Johnson—" the seemingly veteran black woman— "and Agent Danny Taylor."

Danny's greeting, if you wanted to call it that, was probably the coldest. He barely moved at all except a slight narrowing of his eyes.

"Angela will be simply helping you out around the office with cross-referencing numbers, running background checks, and things like that. And also working as a tech." Jack concluded his introduction by looking at his watch and then at Angela. "Your desk is over there, and you'll be busy soon enough after we get some leads. Sam, Vivian. We're going to talk to the teachers at the school again. Danny and Martin, keeping looking for the next door neighbor."

With that, Jack and the two women left, leaving Angela alone with Martin and Danny. Angela opened her mouth to say something, but before she could even think of anything to say, they both gave her a superior look and walked away. Her eyes narrowed at their retreating backs, and she too turned to walk to her desk. She had no sooner reached her desk than she felt a sharp tap on the shoulder.

Angela turned and found herself staring into two very beautiful brown eyes.

"These are all the records from all the pay phone in the area," Danny said shortly. There was a loud thump on Angela's desk, and a stack of papers nearly four inches high now sat. "And this—" Danny handed her a thick list of more numbers, "is a list of numbers that Roger Stein was most likely to call. You'll have to cross reference them to figure out which phone he was using."

Without another word, Danny turned, grabbed his coat, and left with Martin, leaving Angela feeling very frustrated and very alone.

**A/N:** Hoorah! I'm writing again! Ok, actually, I've been writing this story for a period of about… a month. I wrote about fourteen chapters in two days, and then had a major case of writer's block for three weeks. But it's all finished now, and I'm posting it. I really do adore this story. It makes me very, very happy. Now this story can get a wee bit confusing sometimes, so I'll help you out by letting you know what questions you should be thinking about. Basically now you should be wondering, "Hmm… Why does Angela want a desk job? What happened in May to her?" Haha. Ok, anyways **_review!_** It makes me very happy. Thank you so much for reading.

-Laura


	2. 002: Rising Tempers

002: Rising Tempers

It took Angela a total of seventeen minutes to figure out which payphone it was and another twenty-two minutes to make a list of all the numbers and their owners.

Quiet satisfied with her work, she picked up the phone and was halfway through dialing Danny's number (which was conveniently taped to the top of the phone) when she changed her mind. That annoyingly attractive smirk was still replaying in her mind and she didn't want to take anymore of his sarcastic attitude at the moment. Angela pressed the receiver and dialed Martin's number instead.

After a few rings, Martin's voice crackled from the other end. "Agent Fitzgerald."

"Hey Martin, it's Angela," she said, resting the phone between her cheek and her shoulder as she flipped through her payphone list. "Listen, I got the payphone Roger Stein was using, and it looks like he's got a sister in Atlanta named Dawn Hadley. I did a brief background on her, and no red flags. But he kept calling this guy… James Ritter. And _his_ background check says that he's a repetitive sex offender and works at the county hospital. Red flag."

"Stein could have gotten the sedatives that we found in his house from him…" Martin said slowly, taking in the information. "Ok, well, thanks for the heads up."

Dial tone.

Slightly put out, Angela hung up the phone. Martin seemed at least interested in what she had to say, and she was quite sure that his abrupt hang up had just been to keep Danny and the rest of the team happy. He didn't seem the type to be condescending. He had been new once.

Angela turned to her computer to run an in-depth background on James Ritter when her cell phone rang.

"Harper," she answered.

"This is Agent Spade," Samantha said coolly. "We need the surveillance videos from last night from all of the ATMs in the area of the victim's disappearance. The area's marked on the map in the bullpen."

Dial tone.

Angela frowned and hung up the phone again. She could understand Samantha's resistance to Angela's joining the team because she had probably gotten used to being the only single female agent around the three male agents. Angela understood it, even if she didn't like it. It probably also had to do with the other female agent who had just gotten transferred. Helen. Ellen. Or something.

"Yes, I need the surveillance videos from your ATM," Angela said into the phone as she printed off James Ritter's background. "No, I'm with the FBI. Yes, you're required to do this. Because I'm with the _FBI_," she said irritably. "Yes, the whole day. Right and—oh, hold on." Angela's other line was beeping. "Harper."

"Agent Harper, this is Agent Taylor."

What was it with forcing new members to endure the team calling each other by their titles? Oh, right. Superiority. And because it was just too easy to say "Angela, this is Danny."

"Have you figured out which pay phone Stein used _yet?"_

"What? Yeah, about an hour ago. I called Martin and told him about his sister and this James Ritter fellow. I would have faxed them, but I didn't think you guys carried a fax around—"

"Why did you call Agent Fitzgerald?"

"Because _Martin_ was the number on top of my phone list," she said crossly, emphasizing the first name use. "I guess I didn't get the memo that everything had to be run by you first. Since, you know, I'm not "really" part of the team like you and Martin are."

With that, Angela hung up on Danny, feeling both victorious and frustrated. She understood Samantha's resentment and Martin was quickly warming up, but she couldn't find a way to justify Danny's hostility.

She sat there for several more seconds thinking before she realized that she still had a bank on line one.

---

It was an absolutely exhausting next few weeks. Every fifteen minutes, Vivian or Martin or occasionally even Samantha would call her for credit card records or a background check.

At 3:36 on a Thursday morning, Angela was still at the office when her cell phone rang.

"Harper," she said, failing to stifle a yawn.

"Hey," Martin's voice came softly over the phone. "How are those credit cards coming?"

"Brilliantly. This woman was definitely having an affair. She checked into the Hilton downtown at least once a week, and you should see how much she spent at the bar—"

"Well, hate to break it to you, but it looks that the affair had nothing to do with her daughter's disappearance. We found her."

"Really?"

"It was the crazed nanny."

"Ha! You owe me ten bucks."

Martin laughed. "Fine. Tomorrow morning."

"Along with the paperwork."

"Can't wait," Martin said sarcastically. There was a small pause before he said, "Hey, uh, Angela?"

"Hmm?"

"Listen, I'm sorry for how everyone's been… well treating you. They're just…"

"It comes with the territory. I should have expected it."

"They're just having issues with getting back on their feet after Elena. She really messed us all up. If you think we're territorial, you should have met her."

"I think I'll pass on that."

"Good choice. But I just wanted to say that I think you're going to be great with the team. And the others… they'll come around."

"I know. In time."

There was a small pause as the friendship between Angela and Martin solidified its bond. She couldn't help but thinking one down, three to go.

"Alright, well, get some sleep. Night," he said.

"Good night, Martin."

---

Feeling a little more confident with Martin's approval under her belt, Angela walked in with a sense of belonging the next morning.

"Don't you look happy," Vivian smiled as she passed her with three large files tucked under her arm. "I knew you'd find your niche here."

"It just took awhile. And waiting for everyone to… come around, I guess."

Vivian chuckled. "They'll come around. Especially with your background checks. You dig that stuff up in half the time that we used to be able to do it. I can't even remember life without them."

"What can I say?" Angela smiled. "I have fast fingers."

"And a sharp mind. Not to mention you're about a thousand times warmer than Delgado. I think you might be able to tame this team."

Angela cocked an eyebrow as she scoffed. "Let's not get our hopes up just yet."

"You just wait," she replied. "Oh, and Martin was asking about all of those background checks in Rico's buddies. I'm telling you, we love the background checks."

"Right, they're on my desk. I'll go get them."

"And the tech guys have a surveillance video from the electronic store that was robbed in that same area that he lived in. You could probably go check on that afterwards," Vivian added before going into Jack's office.

Angela nodded and headed for her desk. She passed Danny's desk along the way and saw him sitting there, looking at his computer screen. In one window there was a picture of a man and a caption that said "Rico Sanchez." Other windows were popping up with pictures of other men.

"Oh, Danny," Angela said, feeling a bit guilty but also irritated. "I hope you're not running a search on Sanchez's men."

"Why not?" His reply was impatient and he didn't even turn around to look at her.

"Because Martin asked me to do it last night. The papers are all on my desk."

Her eyes canvassed his desk and noticed a large yellow book. The words "BAR Exam" were written in bold, black letters along the spine of the book.

"Why would he have come to you?" He swiveled his chair around to face her and if she wasn't so irritated with him, she would have thought that he looked quite dashing in his striped blue and black tie.

"Because it's my _job,_Danny. And if you would just let me help you instead of resisting my help, I think we'd actually make a pretty efficient team."

"If you think that we have a good team, then why aren't you a field agent?" Danny was standing now, and Angela hadn't really realized how tall he really was.

The question caught Angela completely off guard and her mind raced for a lie to tell him, but the insensitivity he asked her with simply maddened her.

Angela did _not_ need to give him the reason for her choice of occupation. He didn't even _know_ that there was a reason why she wasn't a field agent anymore. He didn't _know_ what happened last May. How dare he treat as if he was better than she was!

Her eyes narrowed, and she knew he was angry with her. Angry at her daring to intrude on his territory. On his team. On his life. But she was just as angry as he was.

She picked up the yellow BAR Exam book off of his desk. "Why aren't you a lawyer?" she asked him in a dangerously low tone as she held it up to him.

Danny's eyes flashed and his jaw clenched. He grabbed the book from her hands before giving her a scathing look as he walked away with heavy and angry footsteps.

That was as much as a victory for Angela but now she was convinced that there was no way that she and Danny would ever see eye to eye.

**A/N:** I have issues with resisting posting all of my chapters up at once. It's because I love reviews. And more chapters mean more reviews. And so about an hour after I post a chapter, I'll be like "Can I post another one now? How about now? Can I post it _yet!"_

Hahaha. Anyways, reviews would be very much appreciated. And if you actually sign in, I promise I'll reply. :)

Oh, and questions for this chapter… hmm… Well, of course, "What's going to happen between Angela and Danny?" gasp, gasp, _gasp_ "Will Samantha ever warm up to Angela?" dramatic music "And why isn't Angela a field agent and what does that have to do with what happened last May?" dramatic music _and_ gasps Haha. Anyways. Ponder those questions as you leave a review! And have a lovely weekend!

-Laura


	3. 003: Call To Action

003: Call to Action

A harsh, loud laugh rang out. A horrific face loomed in front of her, laughing manically. All around her she heard screaming. A gun was waving in front of her face. Another man lay on the ground in a pool of his own blood. The laughing and screaming never ceased.

"If you're an FBI agent why didn't you save them?"

The horrid question kept repeated over and over with the laughing and screaming in the background.

There was a gunshot.

Angela Harper sat straight up in her bed in a cold sweat.

Outside it was raining. Lightning raked through the sky, illuminating her room. A crash of thunder quickly followed. As Angela's breathing slowly returned to normal, she tried to get rid of the nightmare she had just had.

It wasn't the first time either. The same dream had been plaguing her sleep for the past six months. Ever since May.

Trying not to think about the dream or the Incident, she looked at her clock. 4:32. She knew she wouldn't be able to get back to sleep, so she threw her legs over the side of the bed and got up. After a quick cup of coffee, Angela dressed, grabbed her coat, and left her apartment. There was no sense in staying there. She would just be forced to dwell on what had happened and she had wasted too much time in the past doing that. She might as well go to the office and get started on the paperwork that awaited her.

It was a little after five when she arrived. Everything was dark and empty, but somehow Angela found it comforting. She set her belongings down at her desk and turned on a lamp and began her work.

As she worked, her mind wandered to the rest of the team. She had settled in quite nicely and was starting to get used to everyone. Even if they weren't getting used to her.

Samantha was clever and despite her cool attitude towards her, Angela rather liked her. She could get away with joking with all of the members, including Jack. Angela respected her.

She also deeply respected Vivian. She was probably the most rational of the five. Her maternal nature was coupled with an extraordinarily sharp mind which made her a great ally but one hell of an enemy.

Jack was the same way: he would protect his team to the end and if anyone ever tried to touch one of them, they were really in for it. Angela never ceased to be amazed by his ability to get inside people's heads, and sometimes it was just unnerving.

Martin… Martin made Angela smile. He was a little quirky and had a really cute smile, but he was a fierce agent. He seemed as though he was always trying to prove himself, though he had already proven himself too many times to count. And he always seemed to want to do the right thing.

And then… then there was Danny. Danny was such… a _pain._ He was very quick and extremely clever and his sarcasm and good looks didn't help matters. He had a good bond with all of the other agents, but he simply refused to like Angela. And he hated to be told that he was wrong or to be shown up by someone. Especially by a female desk watcher. If he didn't have such an ego, Angela might have even considered asking him to get a drink. Because he was rather good looking. And clever. And he liked the Mets…

Angela's thoughts were interrupted by the sharp clicking of heels on the tiled floor. She had been there for about an hour now, but she still wasn't expecting anyone to come in until around eight.

The slender form of a woman turned the corner and entered the dark, large room, only lit by Angela's lamp. The single light source caught the blonde hair as Samantha turned to see who was at work.

"What are you doing here so early?" she questioned as she set her purse down on her desk. For once her question didn't demand an answer; she was actually interested.

"I couldn't sleep," Angela replied with a small yawn. She wanted desperately for this to be the turning point in their friendship. While Samantha had been growing continually warmer to her, now calling her "Angela" instead of "Agent Harper," she was still stiff with her.

"Why are you in this early? I wasn't expecting any one until later."

"Oh, well," Samantha said, not looking at her. "I couldn't really sleep either."

Angela observed her for a while, knowing that there was more, but she wasn't sure if she should push. But before she could stop herself, she asked.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Samantha turned sharply, probably surprised at the question. It was a few seconds before moved. With a sigh, she walked over to Angela's desk and sat in a spare chair.

"It's just…" she began. "Martin and I… we're just hitting a rough patch."

"How so?" Angela had assumed by heir body language through the past month that the two had at least been sleeping together.

"I don't know. It's like… we're always fighting. Over little things. And I guess he's starting to think about the future, and he knows what he wants. A really classic American family. I mean, kids, dog, barbeques, a country club membership—"

"Hey, hey. Take a breath," Angela grinned holding up her hands. "But you… don't want a family?"

"Well, I don't know," Samantha said with a confused and frustrated look on her face. "I just didn't expect it to come up this soon. I don't know what I want. I barely know what I'm going to have for lunch. And I mean Martin…" her expression softened as she said his name. "It's just like he has everything all planned out… He's going to be a great dad someday, Angela. But me? I don't think I could be a mother."

"Oh, Samantha, please," Angela said, almost surprising herself at her interruption, but she continued. "I've seen you with the kids that come up here. You are so patient and gentle with them. And they adore you."

Samantha scoffed at this, but Angela just looked at her with a raised eyebrow and a serious face. She thought about it for a few seconds.

"But… I couldn't be a mother."

"Yeah? Why not?"

Samantha didn't say anything and stared aimlessly at something on Angela's desk. Angela finally understood. It was something about her past.

"Listen, I'm not going to tell you what to do, but personally, I think you'd be a good mother. But I would suggest going and talking to Martin. Just talk it out. Tell him what you told me. You guys will figure it out."

Neither one of them moved, until Samantha looked back at Angela and realized what she had said. "Wait, now?"

"You've got two hours," Angela smiled. "Go on. Go. I think I can hold down the fort."

Samantha laughing lightly and stood up. She considered it for a few second, and then turned to grab her coat and purse. As she threw her coat over her shoulders, she turned and looked back at Angela.

"Hey, Angela?"

"Hmm?"

There was a short pause before she smiled softly. "Thanks."

"Not a problem. Now go," she said with a grin, waving her hands at her.

Samantha turned to go, but stopped once again. "And… I'm sorry."

Instead of asking what she was sorry for, Angela just smiled softly. "Get out of here."

---

The team was hardly in the office that day, though the kept Angela plenty busy. A background check here, a phone call there. Every once in a while, one of them would pop into the office to grab a fax or to consult with the tech team. As the credit card records for Rachel Duchess were being printed, a warm voice disrupted Angela's wandering thoughts.

"Good morning, Angela."

She turned and was pleasantly surprised at who had greeted her.

"Well, good morning to you, Martin. How are things out on the field?"

"Slow," he admitted. "All the leads seem to dead end."

"One will turn up. It's only been seven hours. Plus—" Angela snatched the papers off the printer. "—I have her credit card records." She looked back at him and though he was smiling, he looked a little distracted. "You talk to Samantha this morning?" she asked concerned.

"Yeah," he chuckled. "She came banging on my door at 6:15 this morning." He looked up at her. "Wait, how'd you know?"

She shrugged with a playful grin. "She was at the office early this morning when I was. We had a chat."

"Yeah?" he grinned. "You two best friends now?"

Angela laughed. "Getting there. Four down…" her eyes flickered to Danny's vacant desk. "One to go. I just…" she gave him an exasperated look. "Martin, I don't get him. I understood Samantha's issues with me. I mean, another woman on her turf? Completely understandable. You and Vivian never really had a problem with me, but you got used to me—"

"—And now can't live without your amazing background checks," he added.

"Jack hasn't had a complaint about me yet. But I just _don't_ get him. Vivian's always telling me that he'll come around, but it's been a month and a half. And all I've done is cross check phone logs and run out alibis for him."

"You want to know what I think it is? I think he's scared of you."

Angela stared at Martin for a few seconds before she began to laugh.

"I really think he is," he said again.

"Yeah?" she asked, cocking an eyebrow at the cute man in his polka-dotted tie. "And why is that?"

"Because Elena—"

"You people blame all your problems on her."

"You never met her. Danny will never admit it, but she stole his heart the first time he saw her. And she was always cold towards him. Broke him every day he had to work with her."

"I don't want to _date_ him," Angela said, although that was just a flat out lie. "I just want to work civilly with him."

"He's just trying to protect himself, Angela," Martin explained. "Distance is how he protects himself. From women, from his family—"

"His family?"

Martin sighed. "He had a pretty rough childhood, ok? His parents died when he was young and his other brother didn't really look after him all that well. Listen, Angela," he said softly. "He just doesn't want to get hurt again."

At that precise moment, Martin's phone rang.

"It's Jack," he said, looking at the caller ID. He glanced back up at Angela. "He really will come around. I promise."

"Like I haven't heard that before. Now answer your phone and get going, Agent."

"Good luck with those credit cards," he said before answering his phone. "Agent Fitzgerald."

As Angela was turning back to her desk, Martin caught her arm.

"Yeah, she's right here," he said into his phone with a note of confusion in his voice.

Angela looked at him with a questioning face, but he just furrowed his brow as he listened.

"You sure? Alright. Yeah, we'll be down there in fifteen minutes."

As he snapped his phone closed, Angela stared at him. "We—?"

"Jack wants us down there for the ambush. Both of us."

"But I can't—I'm not a field agent," Angela protested, feeling the color drain out of her face.

"He said that they needed you. You'd better grab your gun."

**A/N:** Huzzah! Another chapter! Ok, so I decided that I'll update this story every Monday and Friday. I can't take postponing it another day. So be here Monday and Fridays. :)

So here's another chapter. I hope you guys liked it. I'm getting really positive reviews about it which makes me really excited. The questions for this chapter… well, the obvious "What's the deal with Angela's nightmare?" And the recurring question "What happened to Angela in May?"

Danny's not actually _in_ this chapter, but a few of you commented about his cold and arrogant attitude. I'm sorry, I know it's slightly frustrating to have him be that way, but you know, look at the circumstances. He's just mad because someone's on his turf. It's a guy thing (I think. Maybe. I wouldn't know.) But don't worry. The Danny we know and love will soon emerge. Or will it? Will he change his mind about Angela? Will she change her mind? What will happen between them? Dun, dun, dun. Haha. Ok leave reviews!


	4. 004: Repeat

**A/N: **Guess what day it is?!

FRIDAY!!!

And you know what **THAT** means!

A new chapter!!

HUZZAH!!!

ENJOY!

004: Repeat

The entire ride there, Angela barely heard a word that Martin was saying. Gunshots and screams kept echoing through her mind. Jack couldn't do this to her. He couldn't just throw her out onto the field without warning.

As they got out of the car fifteen minutes later, Jack was already walking towards them. "Martin, go with Danny. He'll explain," he said shortly. "Angela, come with me."

"Jack, I can't go on the field. I can't."

"On the field? Of course you're not going on the field," Jack said, almost stopping in mid-stride to look at her. "I can't do that. You can't do that. That would be suicide."

"Wait, then why am I here?" Angela's fear translated into confusion as Jack led her away from the car.

"You're here because we need you. Now listen. We've got a hostage situation. Each of the agents entering the building has ear pieces. The victim and the kidnappers are in that building," Jack said, point to a large, old building in front of them. "It's like a maze in there, and these," he pointed to a computer screen where several techs were congregated around, "are the virtual blueprints of the building. You've got to guide us."

"Through ear pieces?"

Jack nodded. "We've each got trackers so you can see us on the screen as well. The victim's cell phone is on which is emitting a signal. And we've tracked the signal down. You see the flashing red light in that room?"

"Wow," Angela said, raising her eyebrows. "So I just have to get you to the room where the red flashing light is?"

"That's it. You stay outside. Now the kidnappers are in the middle of the building. Rather convenient because if we come in any one of these entrances, they can escape from the numerous other ones. But, of course, they're covered."

"When are you going in?"

"In about two minutes. Danny and Martin will be coming in through the north entrance, Vivian and I have the south, Samantha and Agent Felder have the east, and Agent Morris and Agent Pavilion have the west." He stopped and looked at Angela. "You got it?"

"Got it."

Jack looked at her for a few more seconds and then nodded. "See you in a few minutes."

Two minutes later, the agents were all in the building. It felt as though Angela was playing a video game without a controller.

"North, you're going to want to turn at your first left," she directed over the radio system. "East, keep going straight. South, take an immediate right. West, you're good."

Watching the flashing green lights move across the screen was seemingly more nerve wracking than she had expected. Then the red light began moving.

"All corners, we've got movement on the victim heading north. East take a left. South go straight until you hit a door. Go through it and take a right. North head straight. West, you're furthest from them, but keep going in the same direction."

"Angela, we've got a wall in front of us," Danny crackled over the radio.

"Damn it. Is there a door on either side of you?"

"One on our left."

"A hallway?"

"Yeah."

"Go that way and then the next door on your left, take it."

It took a moment for her to realize that for the first time, Danny had called her "Angela" instead of "Agent Harper." Her hopes rose a little.

"West, you're going the wrong way. Turn around and take that right that you just passed."

Martin's voice came over the system, but he was talking to Danny. "Do you hear that?"

"Yeah, keep going," Danny replied.

"South, you're coming up closely on the kidnappers."

And then something strange happened. The red flashing light that had been ceaseless for the past five minutes suddenly stopped moving.

"All corners, the kidnappers' movement has ceased. South, you're in the room right next to the signal."

She heard Jack counting down to Vivian for their entrance into the room. And then—

"FBI! Hands in the air!"

There was silence.

"Jack?" Samantha's voice came over the system. Her green light had stopped moving as she waited for direction.

"Damn it!" Jack's voice echoed over the radio. "Damn it, they found the cell phone. It's lying on the floor. Angela, which way were they heading?"

"They were still heading north. If they're still going the same way, Danny and Martin are going to run into them first."

"We don't hear anything," Martin said.

"Damn it. Angela, radio the guards stationed outside the exits and tell them to get ready."

"North, you're going to want to advance quickly the way that you're going. East, take a left to cut off that side exit. South, come through the room and then… they probably are heading to the north exit, so take a right. West, take a right and cut off that other exit," Angela relayed through the radio system before picking up the walkie-talkie sitting on the table next to the computer. "All stationed guards, we've lost kidnappers' signal. Be prepared for an unannounced exit. North guards, they were headed your way."

"Hey! Do you hear—"

"Angela, we've got an audio confirmation coming from somewhere close ahead of us," Martin said over the radio.

"East, take an immediate left," she ordered. "West, double back and go into that hall to the right. South, keep going straight."

And then it sounded as if Martin and Danny were finally on the tail of the kidnappers. Angela could here snippets of what was going on over the radio.

"Freeze! FBI!"

"Damn it, Frank, run!"

"Grab the girl!"

The short bits of dialogue were shouted over the radio system, and Angela realized that she was clenching her fists in anxiety. There were sounds of footsteps running.

"I want the north guards in the building!" Jack shouted over the system. "Angela, get them in there!"

"North guards, enter the building. The kidnappers are coming out. Go in and take a left."

There were more footsteps and then a gunshot.

"We've got one down and the girl." Martin said, panting. "The girl's ok, and Danny's on the other one."

"The guards should be intercepting them…" Angela said, anxiously. "Where the hell are they?"

Then something on the screen caught her attention. Across the hall from where the guards had turned into, there was a small corridor. And currently turning into the corridor was a flashing green light…

"Damn it! Damn it! He's going through a passage! Jack, those guards aren't going to intercept them!"

"_What?"_

"There must be a passage that the kidnapper found because that's where Danny's following him!"

There was a gunshot. And then another. And these were not from over the system. These were barely thirty feet from her. The kidnapper was going to be coming out of the exit and there were no guards there.

Without even thinking, Angela took her gun out of her hostler and ran to the exit door where the shots were coming from. As she approached it, the door swung open with a crash, and a large, burly man came bursting out. She was too far away to take aim just yet, but Danny came out of the door just seconds after. The large man looked behind him and raised his gun to aim at Danny.

It happened in a second. The moment Angela saw the kidnapper's gun begin to rise, she raised her gun herself. Two shots were fired. One from the kidnapper's gun and one from Angela's. One hit Danny. The other hit the kidnapper.

He swung around madly and raised his gun at Angela. She shot again catching him in the middle of his chest. His eyes wide and mad, he fell heavily on the ground, the gun clattering out of his hand onto the cement.

Agents were now swarming all around them. The gun was kicked away from the kidnapper's hand by one, while another declared him dead. Several agents were attending to Danny who was still on the ground. His shirt had been ripped open to show his bullet vest over his chest. He was breathing heavily, but he seemed to be alright.

Everything for the past minute had been in complete slow motion, but now that it was over, everything sped back up to normal speed. The sound came back. The feelings came back.

Angela was shaking madly and her gun dropped to the ground. There were hands on her shoulders, and Jack's voice was by her side. Her eyes stayed glued to the dead man still lying on the ground. Her breath was shallow and rapid. Her knees were shaking so badly that she could barely stand. Her eyes slowly moved from the dead man to Danny who was looking at her in a way that he hadn't before.

She turned to Jack to say something, to say anything. But she couldn't. She could talk. She couldn't stand. She couldn't see. She couldn't hear. She couldn't take it.

Angela doubled over and vomited before she disappeared into a world of black.

**A/N: **I bet you kids have been waiting the entire week, checking every half hour to see if there's a new chapter up even though it wasn't Friday yet. Or maybe that's just something I'd do. :)

Anyways, leave me comments! Tell me what you think! I love to get your response because it allows me to see what you're thinking and let me make future changes to clarify or make something better.

So. Let's see. Of course the question, "What is up with Angela and guns?" "Why did she react so violently towards a shooting?" "Gasp, what does the title of the chapter mean?" and the ever present question "What the fuck happened to her in MAY?!"

Those questions should be burning in your mind. And if they're not, they are now.

Anyways, have a **wonderful** weekend, my readers. Tonight is my school's homecoming game which I will be attending in a few short hours. Tomorrow night is my dance. Wish me luck on getting asked to dance a few times. I keep hoping that a rather Danny-like guy will randomly show up at the dance. I'm allowed to dream, aren't I?

Leave reviews and have an amazing weekend!

-Laura


	5. 005: Distance is the Key

005: Distance is the Key

A throbbing headache.

That was the first thing that Angela could even think of when she woke up, but the headache was making it difficult to think of anything.

She slowly opened her eyes and saw white. Very, very white.

"My God, did I die?" she wondered aloud as her head continued to throb.

"Not exactly."

The response threw Angela completely off guard and she jerked her head to the direction of the voice, although she sincerely wished that she hadn't because now her neck ached.

"How are you?" Jack asked as he sat down in the chair next to her bed. Angela soon realized that she was in a hospital.

"What is this? The psych ward?" she half-joked.

Jack smiled. "No, thankfully. But just some overnight surveillance for symptoms of post-traumatic stress."

"Ah, this again," she mused as she looked slowly around the room. "You'd think that I'd have enough of these overnight hospital stays for post-traumatic stress."

"I wasn't sure if what happened yesterday would cause a relapse. It seemed to have."

"What? The whole vomiting and fainting spell? No, I do that on a regular basis."

He looked at her seriously, and her smile faded.

"It might be a small relapse of post-traumatic stress," she admitted as she fiddled with the white sheets on her bed. "But I'm fine. Really."

"So you'll go to therapy sessions for the next month?"

"Like the once I did after last May's incident? The twice a week with a therapist things?"

Jack nodded. "Our therapist's name is Dr. Harris."

"Sounds fine to me."

"I think Samantha should take a page out of your book," Jack grinned.

"She doesn't like therapy sessions?"

"She likes the field more."

"Ah. Well. I'll be fine. Just a mild case of post-traumatic stress."

"Mild?"

Angela stared at him for a few seconds. "This time it's just mild. And it's not relapsing because I shot a guy. It's relapsing because I was forced to vividly remember the May incident."

"Alright," Jack said, looking at her as if he was trying to tell if she was lying to him. "Well, they're going to discharge you this afternoon. Go home, get some rest, and come back to the office tomorrow."

"Sounds good."

Jack stood and looked at her for a few moments. "It was a good shooting. You know that, right?"

Angela nodded. "I know. I'm not doubting it. I just… it's hard to even hold a gun after… well, what happened. In May."

"Understandably so. Get some rest."

As Jack turned to leave, Angela remembered something.

"Oh, Jack?"

"Hmm?" He turned back to look at her.

"Danny… is he… is he alright?"

"A little shaken up. Probably a deep bruise on his chest. He'll live. He owes you."

"Yeah… ok, well. Good. I'm glad he's alright."

"So he can still boss you around?"

"It wouldn't be the same without him," Angela smiled softly. "Bye Jack."

"Sleep," he said as he closed the door behind him.

---

After she was discharged from the hospital, Angela found that she really didn't want to do much except lay on her couch and watch a movie. She picked out a nice, nonviolent movie (one of her favorites, _Moulin Rouge_) and then settled down for an evening in her pajamas. She got up only to make some Macaroni and Cheese and to go to the bathroom. She even sang to "Elephant Love Melody" as she mixed the milk, butter, and cheese with the pasta.

It seemed as though she really wasn't having a major relapse of post traumatic stress.

Until night came.

Everything seemed to make a strange noise. Everything made scary shadows on the wall. Angela lay in her bed for hours trying to get to sleep, but she couldn't. She couldn't. Flashbacks of the Incident kept popping into her mind. Gunshots. Screaming. Blood.

It wasn't until around three in the morning that she drifted off into a very uneasy and very shallow sleep, with the thought of facing Danny tomorrow in her mind.

---

Angela was almost as nervous coming back the next day as she was on her first day. She was sure that everyone would look at her differently. None of them would understand why she had reacted the way that she had to a shooting. But she wasn't going to tell them either. She didn't have the strength, nor did she want them to know her personal story and to feel sorry for her. That's why she left the Dallas office in the first place.

She had become so sick of people saying, "Oh, poor Angela. Did you hear what happened? Such a tragic accident. It's a shame to loose an agent that way."

The elevator doors opened onto the eighth floor, and Angela stepped out only to almost run right into Vivian.

"Oh!" Angela said, almost alarmed. "Vivian, I didn't see you there. I didn't mean to run into you."

"Not a problem. I didn't spill my coffee," she smiled warmly. Her eyes were searching Angela's face cautiously as she tried to figure out what was going on in her mind. "You doing alright?"

"Never better," Angela lied. "Do we have a new case yet?"

"Not yet. Right now it's paperwork time. There's quite a large stack on your desk."

"There is?" There was usually hardly any paperwork for her after a case. "Oh, right. Because of the… because I was… right, ok, thanks."

Angela started to walk away when Vivian touched her arm lightly. "Are you sure you're alright?"

Taking a deep breath and swallowing her frustration, Angela simply smiled. "I'm fine. I promise."

Vivian looked at her for several moments before letting her go. Angela continued walking to her desk. She knew that Vivian meant well, and she was expecting those types of questions, but it didn't stop her from feeling slightly frustrated. She just wanted to be left alone right now.

But Vivian was right. There was a rather hefty stack of papers on her desk when she arrived. Angela scrunched up her nose in irritation. She loathed paperwork.

"It looks like you're going to be very busy this morning," Samantha said with a small grin as she sauntered over to Angela's desk.

"Ugh. Unfortunately. And I thought I might get a chance to improve my Solitaire score," Angela joked.

"Well, if you need any help with the forms, just ask me."

"I most certainly will. You haven't finished yours already have you?"

"I'm getting there." Samantha paused, and Angela saw the question coming from a mile away.

"Samantha, yes, I'm alright. And I will come to you if I'm not. But for now…" she sighed heavily. "I just need to sort through some things. Ok?"

Samantha nodded and smiled gently. "I understand. It's kind of like when I got shot in the leg. They assigned me to desk work."

"You? Desk work? My God, did you just go up the wall?"

She laughed and nodded. "Just about. Plus everyone asking me if I was alright drove me absolutely insane. So. I completely understand. I'll be over at my desk."

"And I'll be right here."

Samantha walked back to her desk, leaving Angela alone with her large stack of papers. As she sat down in her chair and looked at the top sheet, she sensed someone behind her.

"I'm going to take a big fat guess and say Martin," she said lazily without turning her head.

"It could have been Danny," Martin said, slightly put out that she had guessed correctly.

Angela scoffed. "Mmm. Right. How are you this fine morning?"

"Pretty good. And yourself?"

"I'm getting by."

"And… do you want to… talk?" he asked tentatively.

Angela turned her head to look at him. His eyes were earnest, and he really wasn't trying to pry. He was just trying to be the good guy.

"I'll talk when I'm ready. But thanks."

Martin didn't look hurt, but he looked pained as if seeing her in pain was distressing him. "You sure?"

"Martin," she turned and looked at him seriously. "I'm sure."

Finally catching the hint, he nodded. "Alright. Well. I'm here. You know that, right?"

"Yes, I know. Along with Samantha, Jack, and Vivian."

"Oh. I'm the last one to ask the ever-annoying question 'Are you alright?', huh?"

"Yes, you are."

"Ok. I understand. But I'll be over there."

"And I'll be here."

Martin put his hand on Angela's shoulder briefly before turning and heading back to his own desk.

The rest of the morning, Angela worked steadily through her paperwork, occasionally asking Martin or Samantha a question on one of the sheets. She had seen Danny come in a few minutes after she had come in, and while she really wasn't expecting anything, Angela was a little hurt when Danny didn't exchange a single word with her. She wasn't expecting this to really change anything about their cold relationship, but she thought that at least a "good morning" was in order.

Hell, she would have even been happy if he had asked if she was alright.

Around one o'clock, Angela went into the break room to refill her water glass when she heard voices issuing out of the room.

"Come on, man, you could at least say something to her." That was undoubtedly Martin's voice and it didn't sound very happy. "I mean, she practically saved your life."

"Please, Martin. I had the vest on. There was no way that the guy was going to kill me." Danny. He didn't sound very happy either. "I don't owe her anything."

"I'm not saying that you do, but it's been two months since she's joined this team, and you two have barely had a conversation."

"Is that a crime?"

"No, but… Danny, come on. She's not like Elena. She's—"

"Don't bring her into this, Martin. She has nothing to do with Angela!"

"That's a lie and you know it. You're just sore because Elena never liked you back, so now you're just distancing yourself from her."

"That's—that's—Martin, that's absolutely… that's—"

"It's true and you know it, Danny."

"You don't know what you're talking about," Danny said angrily before storming out of the break room.

Angela backed up several steps, attempting to make it look as if she hadn't been listening to their entire conversation. Danny walked by her, looking at her briefly, but didn't say anything.

Walking into the break room, Angela tried not to look at Martin as she filled up her cup.

"You heard everything, didn't you?" he asked weakly, standing behind her.

"Pretty much," she sighed. She turned and looked at Martin sadly. "I wasn't sure what else I was expecting, you know?"

Martin nodded and then took a step closer. "Can I get you anything?"

"I could use some hot chocolate, but other than that, no."

With a small smile, Martin gave her a sympathetic look. "You'll be alright," he said softly. "Don't mind him."

Angela nodded silently, and before she could stop it, a small tear leaked out of one of her eyes. She turned away from Martin and wiped it away quickly.

Without saying anything else, Martin gave her another encouraging smile and then left the break room, leaving Angela alone with her thoughts.

**A/N:** There was this _huge_ storm last night and my internet went out. I was totally panicking that I wouldn't be able to post this until tomorrow morning when I got to school, and I was like "Gah! It must work! Everyone's counting on this chapter being put up today!"

And so now it's finally working (knock on wood), and so I'm going to post it quickly before it goes out again.

Ok, let's see. Questions. By the way, does this whole questions thing actually help people? Is it pointless? I just thought it might help to direct your train of thought if you get lost… Anyways, "Wait, so Angela was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress? And that has to do with the Incident that happened in May?" "What was Angela forced to remember so vividly after she shot the guy?" "What does it mean '_It's a shame to loose an agent that way'_?" And of course the recurring questions of "What's going to happen between Angela and Danny?" and "WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO HER IN MAY!"

Haha. Don't worry. I think you figure it out next chapter. But you don't get to know until Friday. I know. I'm cruel.

Ok, something weird has been going on when I post a new chapter, the story disappears from the front page of updated stories. It's really weird. It shows up if you search for it, but it doesn't always show up on the front page. It makes me mad because then not everyone sees it. And then that means fewer reviews. :(

Anyways, please review and tell me what you think! It really makes my day! I've got to give some love and cookies out to my favorite reviews ilovemygelding, Andraya TheLat, anmodo, and the MAGNIFICIENT hotchner. You guys make my day. :)

(And yes. _Moulin Rouge_ is one of my favorite movies of all times. If you haven't seen it, go out and rent it. It's amazing.)


	6. 006: Breaking Point

006: Breaking Point

"New victim, new case," Jack announced, just as Angela signed her last form from the previous assignment. She gave a small groan before turning and looking at him. It was nearly ten o'clock on Thursday night, but the entire team had stayed late in order to finish their paperwork.

Jack held a picture of a teenage girl with short, dirty-blonde hair and a quirky smile. "Haley Goode. Last seen shopping at Target this morning. She never came home. However, it seems as though she's been using her laptop quite a bit because we've got evidence of emails sent to several friends and some people who we don't know since her disappearance."

"The last one was sent about an hour ago," Vivian confirmed. "It looks as if she's been instant messaging too."

"I know it's late, but we've got a job. Angela, I want you in the tech room, watching to see if there are anymore emails or instant messages sent. We've got it already hooked up. Martin and Samantha, you guys go talk to the people at Target and see what they know. Vivian, you and I are going to talk with the parents." Jack's eyes flashed and landed on Danny. "Danny, you're staying here."

"What?"

"You heard me. You're staying here with Angela to watch for the emails and instant messages."

"Jack, I don't really think that it's a two-person job—"

"I don't care what you think," Jack replied, raising his voice slightly. He looked around the office at everyone else. Samantha looked somewhat afraid, while Vivian just looked surprised. Martin seemed to be impartial to Jack's decision, and Angela immediately knew that he had something to do with it. She narrowed her eyes at him as he walked out of the door. He just gave her the "you'll thank me later" look as he left after Jack.

Slowly, Vivian and Samantha walked out after him, giving both Danny and Angela sympathetic looks.

The two were left in silence. Neither one of them said anything. Giving up, Angela stood and walked towards the door.

"If joining me isn't too big of an inconveniency for you, I'll be in the other room with the computer," she said shortly, glancing at him. Danny wasn't looking at her, but out the window. She sighed and walked out of the room, knowing that this night had to end in at least one of them forfeiting the battle that they were fighting.

---

After about half an hour, Danny finally joined her in the tech room with the computer. He didn't say anything, but actually sat in the chair next to her. When Angela realized that he was going to remain silent, she turned to him.

"Ok, well, they've got it set up so that whenever Haley sends an IM, we'll be able to see. Same with the emails. According to reports from her brother, the girl's been talking with people from all over the country for the past… year or so. One might have been a pedophile, preying on her. We're not really sure right now."

Danny was still silent, though Angela knew that his mind was working.

"Jack's going to call in the next fifteen minutes with a list of background checks that we should run down, and maybe some alibis of the parents."

And just then the phone rang. Danny didn't reach for it, so Angela picked up.

"Agent Harper. Oh, ok. Thank you. No, I'll come down and get it. Thanks."

Danny looked questioningly at her, but she pretended not to see his confused face.

"I'll be right back."

Five minutes later, she returned to the room with a large bag of fantastic smelling food.

"Chinese," she said briskly as she placed the bags on the desk in front of them. "I'm pretty hungry since I didn't have a chance to get some dinner." She sat down at the desk again and took out a box of shrimp fried rice. After several moments of silence, Angela sighed and turned to Danny. "Do you want some?"

"Oh, uh, no, that's alright. I won't take any of yours," Danny said, not looking directly at her.

"I thought you'd say that," Angela said matter-of-factly. "So I ordered some extra stuff." She pulled out another box of the shrimp fried rice. "And some egg rolls and rice in case you didn't like the fried rice."

Danny stared at her for a few moments before taking the box from her. It was if he couldn't believe that she was offering him some of her food. Angela was almost surprised herself that she was offering to him too. The truth was that she had heard his stomach growling about an hour before hand, and she thought it would have been just too cruel to eat in front of a hungry Danny.

"Thanks," he said finally as he reached for the box.

The two of them sat in silence for awhile as they munched on their food. Angela noticed that Danny was quite the chop-stick user; he was probably better than she was.

The phone rang again. This time Danny picked it up.

"Taylor. Yeah, she's here. In the same room, yes," he said. "Alright. I'll tell her. Ok. Bye."

He hung up and then picked up his chopsticks again to grab a shrimp.

"Jack's faxing over a list of about ten people who need a background check," he said, without really looking at her.

Angela popped her fortune cookie into her mouth as she stood up to get the list of names. As she walked over to the fax machine, she was surprised that she and Danny hadn't had an argument yet, or has ripped each other's heads off. She spent about twenty minutes on her computer, printing out backgrounds for each of the ten people on the list that Jack had sent over before returning to the computer and Danny.

As they sat there, watching the screen and looking over the backgrounds, Angela knew that the question of what made her react to the shooting was driving Danny out of his mind. She could see him struggling to try to keep it in. And at the same time, she was surprised that she kept getting the urge to just let it all out. To tell Danny, the man who had been so cold to her for the past two months, her deepest secret. She had a fierce internal battle for nearly half an hour before she spoke.

"It happened last May," she said finally, in a soft, somber voice.

Danny turned and looked at her in surprise and confusion, but Angela didn't dare look at him. If she was going to do this, she'd rather do it without interruptions.

"It was a typical hostage situation. There were two men with guns inside. And there were twenty-three other people. Twelve men. Eight women. Three kids. They wanted fifty thousand dollars from each of the families. I was sent in with my partner, Brady, and another agent, Holden. Another team of three was sent in the back way. Everything was going as planned, but somehow… Brady, Holden, and I were spotted. They took us in as hostages as well. They found our badges, and they went crazy. They disarmed us, and…"

Angela choked on the words. "They had told the families not to get the FBI involved, so when they realized who we were… They started killing people. Just like that. We were so shocked after the first one, and then right after that, he killed another. And another. And another. The screaming… oh, God… but Brady. Brady got a hold of himself and managed to trip one of the men to get his gun. But the other one. He shot Brady." Angela shivered.

"He shot him five times. I don't know how it happened, but next thing I knew, I had taken the gun from the fallen kidnapper. And I shot the other one. Five times. The other one, he was getting up and was coming towards me. I shot him. Twice. Holden had radioed the other agents by that time and they came in to help with the hostages. Agent Beckers told me that there was nothing more that I could have done. But, my God, seeing Brady like that… After that, I couldn't concentrate on the field. I couldn't hold a gun steady. All of the agents were always concerned about me. I was put on desk work, and then put into therapy. The therapist diagnosed it as post-traumatic stress. I took a month leave of absence, but when I came back, the other agents didn't want to be paired with me, nor I with them. So Agent Beckers suggested a transfer. I didn't want a field job. Not again. And he knew that the New York office needed an extra desk watcher. And so. Here I am."

The room was completely silent. Danny had looked away from her long ago, not being able to face her. Angela was staring at the empty box of Chinese food, and soon realized there were big, fat tears rolling down her face.

"I'm going to go to get a drink," she said quickly, her voice breaking as she stood up and rushed to the kitchen.

Once Angela got to the sink, she broke. She wasn't just crying; she was completely breaking down. The images of Brady on the ground in his own blood kept flashing in front of her. The maniacal laughter of the heinous kidnappers. The horrid gunshots that led to the death of her partner and best friend along with four other innocent people. The whispers about her behind her back at the office. The pitiful looks people would give her. It was too much for her. She wanted to forget it. She just wanted to be able to forget.

A new feeling came over her, and she didn't recognize what it was until she heard his voice. Large, warm arms were wrapping around her sobbing form. Her body was pulled against a broad, safe chest. A cheek rested on top of her head. A soft whisper in a broken voice filled her ear as she let herself be completely taken over.

Angela cried herself dry, but Danny didn't let go. His arms didn't loosen and his body never pulled away. She hid herself within his body and never wanted to leave his hold. His fingers would gently touch the back of her neck, and he kissed her forehead.

She had found solace in the person that she least expected. But now that she was here, she couldn't imagine anyone else.

**A/N:** Wow, you guys are going to murder me for having this put up so late. Sorry! And about the posting, I think I might start posting Fridays and _Tuesdays._ It works better for my schedule. Sorry about that too.

Anyways, WHO IS EXCITED THAT THEY FINALLY GOT TO FIGURE OUT WHAT HAPPENED IN MAY?!

I hope it wasn't anti-climatic. I hate it when that happens.

Anyways, reviews, my loves! Reviews! Do you realize that the review feedback on this story is **phenomenal?** It really is. And I must thank each and every one of my reviewers. Each of the reviews means the world to me. :)

Well, most, if not all of the questions have been answered in this chapter. But there is the always looming question of "What is going to happen between Angela and Danny?" Actually, after this chapter, there is no other reason to have questions at the end of the chapters. I just wanted to make sure that everything leading up to this chapter was clear. If something's not clear, don't hesitate to let me know!

Have a marvelous weekend everyone! Expect an update around Tuesday!

-Laura


	7. 007: Changing Winds

007: Changing Winds

Angela hated Mondays. They were such a drag. It had been a rather nice weekend though. They hadn't gotten a single call for two full days, leaving Angela with a nice chunk of time to just relax. She even took a nice, long bubble bath, something she hadn't done since college.

But Monday was here, and it was time to get back to work. She walked over to her desk and winced when she saw her phone blinking with messages.

"Yeah, that thing has definitely been ringing off the hook since about six this morning," Vivian said as she walked by her desk with a cup of coffee in hand.

"Why me? Why Mondays?"

"It's probably about the new case."

"Already?"

"At least they waited until this morning to call," Vivian said as she wandered off to her desk.

Angela sat down at her desk to listen to her voice messages. There was a message from the credit card company telling her that they were going to fax over someone's records because it was requested… blah, blah, blah. A message from the tech team about getting some computer fixed… blah. And then a message from someone in the Dallas offices asking her how her transfer was going. She deleted that message.

"Good morning."

Angela turned and was pleasantly surprised by Danny's grinning face.

"And a good morning to you. How was your weekend?"

"Much of the same," he shrugged as he sat on the corner of her desk. "Catching up on much needed sleep. What about you?"

Ever since Angela had told him her story about the Incident, she and Danny had become relatively close.

Things had been pretty awkward for the first week or so as they tried to figure out how to be friendly towards one another. At first, Angela considered the fact that he was just feeling sorry for her, but it seemed that he had just realized that she wasn't trying to take over his territory. She had learned that she could tolerate his sarcastic wit and even laugh at a few of his remarks. Once they had broken down the cold, icy barrier, Angela realized how alike they really were.

"About the same. I rented a few movies, and made some phone calls back home."

Danny raised an eyebrow at this. "To Dallas?"

"Just to my family and friends. Outside of the office."

"Ah. How are things there?"

"Not nearly as cold as it is here," Angela laughed as she looked outside to the cold, snowing weather. "I can't believe how cold it is. Dallas hasn't even iced over."

"How did a Texas girl like you get transferred to the big, scary city of New York?" he joked.

"Fate," she replied nonchalantly with a smile.

Danny snorted and stood up. "Right. Well, anyways, the new case? Jack wants us to head over to the house were the guy was taken."

"Us?"

"Yeah. No guns, I swear. But just to get you out of the office a little."

"Is this Jack's way of promoting me?" she joked as she stood and grabbed her coat.

"Maybe. You might want to take your scarf too. It's pretty cold out there."

"This is why I should have been transferred to Los Angeles. I don't like the cold," Angela said buttoning her coat as the two walked down the hall.

"But I'm glad you were transferred here instead."

The answer caught Angela off guard a little. She stopped midway through buttoning a button to look at him. He seemed to have realized his comment, and quickly changed the subject.

"Ok, this guy that's missing. His name's Aaron Class. Thirty-nine year old professor, last seen yesterday morning with his groceries. He was supposed to meet his daughter yesterday afternoon, and when he didn't show up, she got worried."

Danny continued to give her the run down of the situation on the way to the car and during their drive. Truth be told, Angela had been tuning him out since they had left the building. She was just watching him. Watching him talk. Watching his hand gestures. Watching him walk. Watching his eyes.

The forensics team was already present and they were sweeping the whole house for fingerprints and anything else that seemed out of the ordinary. A familiar face peeked out of one of the rooms.

"Hey, you guys," Martin said. He looked from Angela to Danny and tried to suppress a grin. He was absolutely thrilled that his plan for putting the two of them in the same room until one of them broke had worked. "You should come check this out."

As the two followed Martin into the room, Angela sensed Danny's hand barely touching her waist, as if he were guiding her. If it were any other man, she would have taken offense, but she simply felt so protected whenever she was around him. And she had found herself thinking about him more and more. If she didn't know any better, she would say that she actually _liked_ Danny.

It was a tough thing to admit, but the more that she was around him, the harder it was to deny that her feelings for him were blossoming.

"We've got a pretty good lead already. Listen." Martin pressed the play button on Aaron Class's answering machine.

"Uh, hey Mr. Class. This is Harry Glover from your Epics Class, and I just had a question about the—"

There was a disturbance from the machine as if someone had tried to grab the phone away from Harry Glover.

"Hey, man, get off me! I'm just calling my professor!"

"Is that dude your advisor?" Another voice came from the machine as the phone picked up the conversation. "Huh? You telling him about what's going on? About how you're scared?"

"Lay off, man. I had a question—"

The message ended.

"Let's go check out Harry Glover," Danny said with a raised brow as he observed the answering machine, almost expecting it to give him some sort of clue.

Angela, however, was looking at the professor's bookcase. Something didn't seem right. The rest of the apartment was as neat as a pin, but there were several books on the shelf that were shelved haphazardly.

Danny seemed to notice that she was no longer paying attention to him, which apparently bothered him. "Angela?"

"Did either of you read _The Grapes of Wrath_?" she asked as she reached up and pulled out the book.

Martin and Danny exchanged confused looks. "In high school," Martin replied with a raised eyebrow. "Why?"

"Because." She opened the book and grinned. "The Joad family definitely didn't have this much money."

Angela turned the book so that the boys could look at it. The middle of the pages were cut out, making a large compartment within the book were a large stash of twenty dollar bills was secured.

"Wow. This is definitely not part of the professor's salary," Martin said, taking the book delicately. "Nice find."

Danny grinned at Angela, making her blush. "I always knew she was a good addition to the team."

---

Over the next few weeks, Angela visited more and more of the crime scenes with the team, and from time to time worked with forensics as a go-between. She was often sent as a messenger by one of the agents to go and check on an item in the forensics queue.

It was nice to get out of the office every once and a while, and it was even nicer that it was usually Danny who accompanied her to the site. He now acted as if there had never been any bad blood between them, and that was perfectly fine with Angela. He also never once mentioned the Incident for which she was extraordinarily grateful.

The temperature had continually dropped, and it was becoming ridiculously unbearable for Texas-geared Angela. Martin and Jack continually dropped jokes about it nearly every day as she came into the office with her long, thick black coat. She usually wore it in the office for about fifteen minutes before taking it off. And even when she did take it off, she usually kept her scarf on.

It was just way too cold.

It was late one Friday evening. Another case had been wrapped up. Another weekend was approaching. Angela had done more background checks in the past twenty-four hours than she had in the past week, and she was exhausted. They had started the case at four in the morning yesterday, and she hadn't been able to sleep at all.

"Hey."

Angela turned and nearly stumbled as she saw Danny standing behind her, his ever present grin on his face.

"Hey," she replied with a small smile. "Ready for the weekend?"

"I give it about ten hours before we get another call," he said, sitting down in the chair that she had just occupied.

"Way to be optimistic," she rolled her eyes as she searched for her keys. "I'm just ready for a nice _warm_ dinner and a nice _warm_bed. But of course, there's nothing in my apartment to eat. And if I order something in, I won't be eating until one in the morning because it'll take that long for it to get there. The grocery will probably be ridiculously crowded and I just—"

"Do you want to go out to eat?"

"—don't know what I'm going to do," Angela continued. What Danny had said didn't register with her immediately. When it did, she turned sharply to look at him. "What did you say?"

"I asked if you wanted to go get something to eat with me," Danny repeated, not looking away from her. He was however fiddling with a button on his shirt and he was bouncing his foot, and from watching him over the past three months, Angela knew that he only did that when he was anxious or nervous. "Since this whole eating thing is causing a great deal of stress for you."

"Oh," she said, still shocked at his offer. And yet, she was extremely flattered. But then again, maybe he was just trying to solidify their friendship. He and Samantha went to dinner often enough. But then again, he was fiddling with his button. But then again, there was no way that Danny could possibly _like_ Angela. But then again, he _was_ bouncing his foot…

Finally, some rational part of her kicked in and yelled, "Stop analyzing the situation, Angela! Say yes!"

"I'd like that," she said with a smile. "That sounds good."

Danny grinned widely. "Great. You ready now?"

"Uh, yeah. I'm ready whenever you are."

"Well, let me grab my coat and I'll be ready."

And when Danny had gotten his coat, the two of them walked out of the office together. Though neither of them knew it, they both felt as if they had won the greatest victory of all time.

**A/N:** Yes. Yes. It's the moment you've all been waiting for. Danny and Angela are actually being… _civil_ with each other. GASP.

Anyways, I have to thank each and every one of my reviewers! You guys have made this story **phenomenal!** You make me smile with each review!

Thanks so much for reading and have a GREAT rest of the week! And keep sending in those reviews!

Oh, and some of you mentioned that the chapter email hasn't been going out. And I haven't been getting the review notice email. If that happens again, let me know. I'm not sure what I'll be able to do about it, but it'd be nice to know. Have a great week!


	8. 008: Dinner For Two

008: Dinner for Two

Danny had selected a small Italian restaurant not too far from the office. He assured Angela that they had a very fine menu selection, and he wasn't wrong.

Angela's heart was beating out of her chest. She couldn't believe where she was and who she was with. But she was also terrified that she would be completely awkward around him.

However, as it turned out, she and Danny had a rather nice dinner. The conversation never got too entirely awkward, and it seemed as though he was genuinely enjoying himself. She hadn't seen Danny laugh in a long time, and it sent shivers up her spine whenever he did.

It was official, and she wasn't going to deny herself any longer: She liked him. She liked him a lot.

Danny paid the bill even after must protest from Angela, and the two left the warmth of the restaurant for the outside chill.

"Do you want me to call a cab?" he asked after they had walked in silence for a few moments.

"Oh, no, that's alright. My apartment's not far from here. Just a block or two."

"You think you can stand the cold for that long?" he teased.

"I can do it," she grinned.

The two walked along the sidewalk in comfortable silence. Their warm breath rose in the air. Angela was convinced that Danny was purposely blowing out warm air just to watch it.

It was absolutely freezing outside, but she would have walked for all hours of the night just to be with Danny. They walked close together, as if they were trying to keep warm, but not close enough to cause any questions in their friendship. Every now and then, Angela would feel his arm brush up against hers, and she found that she was walking slightly closer to him to make sure that it happened often enough.

"Remember when you asked me why I wasn't a lawyer?" Danny asked in a soft voice, breaking the silence.

"Danny…" Angela said quietly.

"Do you?"

"Yes, but I didn't mean it—"

"I used to be an alcoholic."

"You—what?"

"For a long time. It completely ruined me. It almost killed me." Danny was silent for a moment as their steps slowed. Angela's was shivering but not just because it was cold. "I told everyone that I just didn't pass the BAR exam. But the truth was that I never took it. I was drunk. I was a mess."

Angela didn't say anything. She didn't know what to say. She knew that this was his way of opening up to her. She wanted to let him finish.

"My father, he was a drunk too. A bastard," Danny said bitterly. "Both of my parents died when I was young. My brother, Rafael, he was supposed to look after me after that. But… he fell into the wrong side. Drugs. More alcohol. He was in and out of jail so many times, I've lost count. But I managed to turn my life around. It was almost a fluke that I ended up in the FBI, but when Jack got a hold of me… he didn't let go. And so. Here I am."

He looked briefly over at Angela who was afraid to look at him. Danny had had so much pain in his life, she was now not surprised about what Martin had said about Danny putting distance between himself and others.

"I've been sober for ten years, one month, and twenty-two days," he said quietly.

Silence fell over the pair again. Angela felt as though she should say something, but she had no idea what. She was barely conscious that Danny's arm was now right beside hers, rubbing against hers as they continued to walk.

She wanted so desperately to turn and just fling her arms around him and to never let go. She didn't want to let anything hurt him.

Danny's arm left her side and reached up to his face, and Angela knew that he was having a small breakdown of his own. She placed a hand on his arm and stopped him. He didn't look at her, but at the ground instead.

"Danny…" Angela said softly, feeling tears of her own coming on. She stood in front of him as he wiped his face with the back of his hand. Very cautiously, she lifted her hand to his shoulder.

At her touch, Danny's eyes met hers. It looked as if he wanted break his gaze, but he couldn't. He looked broken, sad, and alone. Unable to restrain herself any longer, Angela's arms pulled Danny's broken form towards her body, one around his neck and one around his waist.

His controlled tears finally were released slowly, and his arms hung loosely on her body. He buried his face into her neck, and she could feel his evening stubble on her skin. Danny's breakdown was no where near as violent or as out of control as Angela's had been, but he still needed someone to hold him all the same.

It wasn't for a few minutes that Angela realized that they were standing right outside of her apartment building. It was pretty late now, and the temperature was dropping by the second, although standing next to Danny, it didn't seem cold at all.

"You should probably get home," Danny whispered gently as he pulled back from her hold.

"Probably," she agreed softly. "This is my building."

He just nodded and stepped back from her, letting her arms drop from around his body. Angela thought that he was probably feeling vulnerable at that moment, and might even be embarrassed for breaking down like that.

"I'll see you Monday, Danny," Angela said quietly. Before she could stop herself, she took a step towards him and leaned up and kissed him gently on the cheek. She lingered next to his face probably longer than she should have, but she stepped back before she let anything else happen. "Take care."

Danny nodded again and watched her walk up the steps and into her building. As Angela climbed the stairs up to her floor, she couldn't help but wonder what this meant for their continually changing relationship.

**A/N:** Well, hello again, all. :) Hope you've all had a marvelous week and now a marvelous weekend.

Hoorah for a first "date" for Angela and Danny! What's gonna happen between the two of them?! Gosh, those two are so stubborn when it comes to admitting their feelings, hmm?

In chapters to come some teasing from our favorite match-maker Martin and possibly a second dinner?

We'll see on Tuesday!

Have a great weekend everyone!

-Laura


	9. 009: Delectable

009: Delectable

"So," Martin said on Monday morning as he approached Angela's desk with a grin on his face.

"So… what?" she replied as she tore away from her computer which was currently cross checking hotel registrations and flight manifests.

"How was your weekend?"

Angela raised her eyebrow at him as she folded her arms and looked at him. There was something that he wanted to know, and she knew what it was. But Martin wasn't the kind to come right out and say it, so she decided to play his game.

"Pretty good. I caught up on some sleep. What about you?"

"Nothing… interesting happened?" he asked, not taking notice of her question. His grin was steadily growing bigger.

"No, not really," she said, knowing that she was driving him out of his mind.

"You didn't… go out to dinner?"

"Oh, right," Angela said as if she had just remembered. "I think I did once…"

Martin waited for her to tell him about it, but she just sat there and stared at him. He finally gave up.

"Are you going to tell me about the dinner that you and Danny went on or not?"

"Not," she smiled as she turned back to her computer.

"Angela…" he begged. "Please?"

"What are you so interested for?"

"Because I just am. And because I know you like him and that he likes you and it's about time that you two just—"

"Hey, watch it there, Fitzgerald," Angela said as she turned to face him again. "You'd better watch what you say or else there are going to be some slanderous rumors going around."

"Are you denying it?"

Angela narrowed her eyes playfully. "No."

"Aha! So I was right!"

"But I'm not confirming it either. So you'd better let us figure this out on our own. Ok?"

"Fine. But the dinner was nice?"

"It was great."

"Are you guys going out again?"

"I don't know."

"And did you—"

"Martin," she warned.

"_Fine._ Give me that cross reference information when you get done, ok?"

"Alright. Now shoo. Go do your job."

After Martin left, Angela was filled with small butterflies. Yes, she liked Danny. And she _hoped_ that they might go out another time, but she tried not to get her hopes up. The truth was she had heard about this nice Thai restaurant over the weekend, and she thought that she might ask Danny to dinner this Friday. If she could get up the courage.

"Did the phone records come in?"

Danny was all of a sudden behind her, looking at her computer with one of his hands on the back of her chair and one on her desk. His sudden appearance had completely thrown Angela off.

"Oh, um, let me check."

She pulled up the records on her computer, although she may have seemed pulled together on the outside, her insides were shaking like mad with nervousness.

"Yeah, here they are."

"Would you print those for me? Please?"

"Of course. I'll give them to you after they print."

"Alright, thanks."

As he left, he put his hand on her shoulder and gave her a small smile. The courage that she had been looking for finally came to her.

"Hey Danny?"

He stopped and turned to look at her. "Yeah?"

"Listen, over the weekend I heard about this Thai restaurant, and it's supposed to be really good. And, I don't know, I thought on Friday or sometime if you wanted to go, we could, um… we could go."

Danny paused for several moments, and Angela froze in fear, wondering if she had just made a mistake. She had really been dreaming if she thought that Danny would ever say yes to a dinner with her. What was she thinking? How could she have been so—

"That sounds good," he said with a small smile. "We'll go after work on Friday?"

"Uh, yeah," Angela stuttered, in complete disbelief at his answer. "Sure, whenever."

"Good."

The two stood there staring at each other for a few moments before they heard someone clear their throat to their left.

"Ahem," Martin said, trying his hardest to keep a straight face. "Angela, are those cross references done?"

"Oh, yeah. Sorry." She stole one more glance at Danny who was turning away, but a grin was still on his face. "Martin, you are—"

"Always right, I know," he said happily.

---

The week seemed to drag by after that as Angela waited impatiently for Friday to come around, but it finally came. She and Danny left together and took a cab down to the restaurant. Once again, she was afraid that things would be awkward between them, but as before they carried on a conversation without much unease.

While they ate, they swapped stories from their days on the field. From Danny's chasing down a van on the back of a motorcycle to Angela's bursting into a room filled with illegally imported snakes, the two shared quite a few laughs that night.

"That was actually pretty good," Danny said as they left the restaurant and called a cab. "I never thought I'd like Thai food."

"Whatever it was you got looked pretty good," Angela agreed as they both slid into the cab.

"122nd and Highland street, please," Danny told the driver, scooting next to Angela. "Yeah, it was good. Except that questionable green stuff," he laughed with a disgusted look on his face. "That stuff was just nasty."

"I can't believe you actually tried it," she chuckled.

"I've never been one to not try something on my plate. There was this one restaurant… oh, what was it called… I think it was Brooks and Hines or something like that. The food looked a little debatable, but it was actually really, really good. I think that should be our next destination. Don't make any plans for next Friday."

Angela thought that Danny was just teasing, and she laughed. "So now we're going to go all over New York to visit different restaurants? Some FBI agent you are."

"Oh, come on," he grinned. "Let's see, we can go to Brooks and Hines next Friday. And then to that Mexican one on the corner of 135th the next week. And then…"

"The soup and sandwich place down the street from the office."

"Yeah, that one the week after. We'll know all the best places in town."

Angela just laughed. "You're nuts."

Danny grinned and leaned back in the cab seat. "I know." He paused for a while. "So Brooks and Hines next week?"

It was only now that Angela realized that he was serious. She was surprised that he hadn't just been kidding, but now that she knew that he wasn't, she felt her cheeks begin to grow pink with pleasure.

"I'll be there," she smiled as the cab began to slow down.

"Good."

When the cab stopped, Danny made no movement to reach for the door. He just sat there and looked at her. Angela could feel her heart begin to beat faster as they sat in the car.

"I'll see you Monday then," he said softly. Before Angela knew what he was doing, he leaned in close to her and kissed her gently on the cheek. Simply being that close to him without either one of them in a breakdown was enough to make her absolutely melt. He smelt so good, and she didn't want him to move at all.

After what seemed like a blissful eternity, Danny turned and got out of the cab. And without another word, the cab pulled away from Danny standing on the sidewalk with his hands in his pockets, watching the car until it turned the corner and he could see it no more.

**A/N:** Yay! Tuesday! I love update days. They make me really happy. Anywho. I hope you guys like this chapter. It's kind of a cute little thing, with some Martin-teasing thrown in. Gotta love Martin. Such a cute guy.

And Danny KISSED HER! Ok, so it was just on the cheek. But still. That's definitely something considering that it's _Danny._ But what's that spell for the next chapter? Well, I know. But it's for you to find out on Friday. :)

Anyways, keep leaving me those WONDERFUL reviews! They really brighten my day! Have a great rest of the week, and look for that update on Friday. Things might begin to take a small turn of events!

-Laura


	10. 010: In Denial About Being In Love

010: In Denial About Being In Love

True to his word, Danny and Angela went out every Friday night for dinner at different restaurants. They traded off choosing destinations each week, and they seemed to get crazier each time, as if they were trying to top each other.

They seemed to fall into a routine every Friday night: they would leave the office together (not before Martin gave him an all-knowing grin) and grab a cab to take them to the restaurant. The conversations that they had ranged from comical to somber. One week they'd be laughing about a movie, and the next, one of them would be sharing a story from their past.

Both Angela and Danny continued to open up more about their backgrounds, and while at times it was very uncomfortable, it felt good to talk to the other one about it.

Back at the office, only Martin really knew what was going on between the two of them, though it was apparent that Angela and Danny were finally on good terms with each other. Danny would stop by her office every now and then when he wasn't immersed in a case and the two would discuss their next dining experience.

One lazy Thursday afternoon filled with paperwork, Vivian came up to Angela's desk.

"Hey, Viv," she greeted. "What's up?"

"Oh, nothing much. I just finished up my last report for the day."

"Ah, lucky."

"Mmm." Vivian paused, and Angela knew what was coming next. "You and Danny seem to be getting along better."

"Yeah, we are. We just had to get through the issues." She wondered if Vivian had caught on to their little dinner escapades.

"I haven't seen him this happy in a long time."

The statement caught Angela off guard. "Really?"

"He had been pretty quiet, but… he's just as happy as can be now."

Angela nodded, not knowing what else to say.

"I think he really likes you," Vivian said finally. "I think he really does."

She scoffed, although she was blushing a little bit. "I don't think so."

"What? Are you going to deny it?" Vivian smiled. "You like him too, don't you? You two have been leaving the office every Friday for the past month and a half."

"We're just going out to dinner as friends, Viv. He doesn't… it's not like that."

"Your face lights up every time that you see him, and you know it," she countered.

"Ok, so what if it does?" she conceded. "I don't think he's really the type to… have a serious relationship."

"He's not," Vivian said, looking pointedly at Angela. "Which is why the fact that you two are going to dinner so often is so surprising. It's not like Danny at all. There's something about you, Angela. Something that's making him change all of his thoughts that he had before about relationships."

With that, Vivian turned and left Angela speechless for the first time in a long time as her mind reeled with the thought that what was between Danny and her could be something more than what it was.

---

Martin and Danny were driving out to a small suburb outside of the city to find out some more information about a missing young boy. Martin knew that there was something going on between Angela and Danny, but he wanted to hear Danny admit it.

"So… you and Angela seem pretty close," Martin fished.

"Yeah," Danny said unhelpfully.

"How close?"

Danny threw him a look. "Not that close."

"You've been going out with her for like a month and a half, and you haven't—"

"Hey, hey, hey," Danny stopped him. "We aren't _going out._We're just having dinner. Exploring new restaurants."

"Uh huh. Right."

"What? You don't believe me?" he asked, turning to look at him.

"No."

Danny scoffed. "You think you know everything."

"I know that you like her."

"Yeah? And how do you know that?"

"Come on, are you really going to deny it? There's no point. I already know."

"So if you know, why are you bugging me about it?"

"Because I want to hear you admit it."

Danny rolled his eyes at Martin. "It's not like it matters. She'd never… it just wouldn't work out."

"Why is that?"

"Because—"

"Because you're scared to let her in, that's why."

"Oh come on, Martin. I don't like her like that."

"That's a lie, and you know it."

"We're just friends. She wouldn't—couldn't have anything to do with me. We're _just friends._"

"But you want something more, hmm?"

"You know I'm not exactly the type of guy to have a serious relationship. I mean for all the years that you've known me, how many have I been in?"

"None. Which is why the fact that you like her so much is surprising. You could have a real shot with this girl. Because she really likes you too."

Danny hit the accelerator a little too fast. "No, she doesn't. How would you know?"

"I can tell."

"How?"

"The way she smiles at you. Come on, Danny, you can't be _that_ oblivious. She likes you, you like her, and you and I both know it. I think you should stop beating around the bush, and just tell her already."

"Did you self-appoint yourself as Dr. Phil of the office today or something?"

"I'm just saying that if you like her that much, you should do something about it. Before something happens and it's too late. Trust me."

---

The next day was Friday, and Danny walked into the office in the morning to find Angela sitting at her desk. The same place she always was whenever he came into the office. Her long, dark red hair was thrown over one of her shoulders and her hazel eyes moved quickly across the screen looking for key information.

Angela must have felt someone staring at her, because she glanced over her shoulder in Danny's direction. When she saw him, a small smile spread across her face. He walked slowly over to her desk, forming the words in his mind as he went.

"Good morning, Agent Taylor," she greeted him. "Jack wants you and Samantha to head over to the local police department and check out if any of the cops know anything about the robbery on 33rd Street. He thinks that the missing kid had something to do with it."

"I figured out where we're going to eat tonight," he said, unable to hold it in any longer.

"Yeah? I thought you had forgotten about it. What exotic destination are we headed for tonight?"

"I thought… I thought that I would cook something. At my place."

Angela stared at him in surprise. Did he really just ask her what she thought he asked her? Was this a joke? Was this a dream? Did Danny really just ask her to eat dinner at his apartment?

Once again, some rational part of her kicked her and screamed, "Stop staring at him and say yes!"

"Wow, that sounds… that sounds great," she managed to finally say.

"I promise I'm a pretty decent chef," Danny said with a grin. "I can't fold the napkins in the weird ways like they did in that Japanese place, but I can cook up a mean meat sauce."

"I guess you'll be putting your culinary skills to the test tonight then, hmm? That sounds really good, Danny. I'll be ready whenever you are."

"Why don't you come over around seven instead? You know where my apartment is.

"Oh, alright then. Sounds like a plan."

"Good. I, uh, better go find Samantha then. I'll see you later."

"Go save the world," she called after him as he turned and walked away.

It wasn't until Danny left that Angela realized what this meant. She was going to be in Danny's apartment eating dinner.

Alone.

A sharp shiver ran down her spine as she smiled at her luck.

**A/N: **Happy Friday, everyone! I hope that you've all had a marvelous week and have a superb weekend!

Here's the new chapter that I've promised you! I hope you've all enjoyed it! Please leave reviews because they make me absolutely giddy.

And let me just say that you will **_not_** want to miss the next chapter. I shan't say more, but let me just _assure_ you that you do NOT want to miss it. Cross your fingers and count down the hours because it will be amazing.

Leave reviews and have a great weekend.

-Laura


	11. 011: Never Felt Something So Strong

011: Never Felt Something So Strong

Angela had never been so nervous in her entire life, but this was a completely different kind of nervousness. She was unarmed, there were no men shooting at her, but she was about to enter the apartment of a man that she cared very deeply for, and that scared her more than anything.

As her luck would prove, the traffic was extremely congested that night as she was in the cab on the way to Danny's place. The weather that evening was chillier than it had been in several weeks, but it was already 7:15, and Angela hated being late.

"You know what, I think I'm just going to get out here," she said, handing the cab driver her money.

"You sure, lady? It's pretty cold out there. And the radio said that it was supposed to rain."

"Yeah, I'll be fine. I just need to go down that block. Thank you."

_Stupid cab driver,_ Angela thought as she found her way onto the sidewalk and walked quickly in the cold weather. _It's February. It's not going to rain._

No more than thirty seconds later, the heavens opened and rain began to pour fiercely down on Angela. She helplessly threw her arms over her head to keep herself dry, but she was completely drenched when she reached Danny's apartment, not to mention absolutely freezing.

"So I take it that it started raining?" Danny grinned as he opened the door to find Angela standing soaked to the bone in front of him.

"Oh, shut up," she said through chattering teeth. "If you're not careful, I'll die of pneumonia on your couch."

"You are completely wet, Angela. You can't stay in those clothes," Danny reasoned.

"Do you have a suggestion?"

"You can… borrow some of mine?" he offered, sounding slightly embarrassed.

Angela considered the offer for no longer than three seconds. "Just for tonight, I promise."

"It's not a problem. I'd rather that than you die on my couch."

"It might look a little suspicious," she agreed with a grin.

"So, um, I'll go get some…" Danny said before disappearing behind the door that was presumably his bedroom.

A small shiver rand down her spine. That was Danny's bedroom. For some reason it thrilled her to be in the room next to his bedroom.

While he was gone, Angela looked around his apartment. It was by no means luxurious, but it was rather nice. It was slightly bigger than her own, and he had filled the space with a small, but comfortable looking couch. It was a very homey and warm kind of apartment, and Angela really liked it.

"I wasn't, uh, exactly sure what you wanted," Danny said awkwardly. "But here's a sweatshirt, and here are some pants. They're probably a little big on you."

"That's alright. Thanks," she said as she took the clothes from him.

There was a pause before it clicked in Danny's mind. "Oh, right, uh, you can change in the bathroom, I guess. It's just right in there to the left," he said, pointing inside his bedroom. "We can hang up your wet clothes or something. Or I can take them downstairs to the dryer."

It almost felt like entering forbidden territory as she entered his bedroom. His bed was covered in a plush, navy comforter and several other warm-looking blankets. Angela had to restrain herself from jumping into it and curling under the warm blankets.

After she had peeled her wet clothes off in the bathroom, she pulled on Danny's large sweatshirt which was simply a plain black and his navy plaid flannel pajama pants. Just by putting them on, she felt tingly all over. The clothes even smelt like him.

She set her wet clothes in a bundle in an attempt to hide her underwear and bra in the shower so they didn't get everything wet. After she emerged from the bathroom, she could smell something that smelt absolutely marvelous.

"Danny, what are you cooking? It smells delicious."

"It's a surprise," he teased as he looked back at her from his small kitchen. "But I promise that it'll be good."

"I don't doubt it."

"It's almost ready, so you can just sit at the table if you want," he said, gesturing to his small round table with two chairs around it.

Angela took his offer and sat down at the table as she continued to look around at his apartment. It was neater than she expected it to be, but he had probably tidied up before she had arrived. There weren't very many personal pictures around the apartment, but it still managed to keep its cozy appeal.

"Alright…" Danny said in a dramatic voice as he walked over to the table with a plate in hand. "I present you…"

He set the plate down in front of her.

"Spaghetti a la Taylor."

Angela laughed. "How'd you know spaghetti was my favorite meal?"

"A lucky guess," he grinned as he returned to the table with a plate of his own. "Parmesan?"

"A bit. Thanks. Wow, Danny, this looks amazing."

"Wait until you try it."

It was absolutely without a doubt the best spaghetti that Angela had had in her entire life. And it wasn't just because Danny had made it. The sauce was absolutely divine, and there wasn't a way to describe the meatballs.

"This is… wow, I can't even tell you how good this is."

Angela could see the faint trace of blush creeping up Danny's neck. "It's just spaghetti," he insisted, suddenly becoming un-Danny-ish and modest.

"Well, if your career as both an FBI agent and a lawyer fails, then you've got a good back up plan here."

The two enjoyed their meal in comfortable silence. Every once in awhile, they would make eye contact, but they hardly said a word.

The rain beat heavily on the building outside. It didn't seem like it was going to stop anytime soon, but it didn't bother Angela that much. She rather enjoyed the rain.

"You know, when I was little," Angela said softly. "My dad and I used to sit in the garage in the bed of his pickup truck when it was raining. I used to be terrified of thunder and lightning, so we would sit there and he'd tell me to laugh at it. To laugh at the thunder and the lightning. We would just sit there and laugh and eat peanuts. The peanuts were always the best part."

"I used to be scared of thunderstorms too," Danny said with a small smile on his face. "My brother would tell me that the angels were bowling and crying because they were laughing so hard. He told me that whenever there was a thunderstorm, the angels were having a party."

"You think they're having a party now?"

"Of course," he said with a smile as he stood and took both his and Angela's plate off the table.

Angela helped him clear the table and load the dishes into his small dishwasher.

"You don't have to help me if you don't want to," Danny teased as she passed him a plate.

"Oh, but I do. Didn't you know that cleaning dishes is my favorite thing to do?"

"You'll make some man very happy one day then," he chuckled. "Do you want something to drink? Tea? Coffee?"

"You wouldn't happen to have hot chocolate, would you?"

Danny opened his cabinets and looked. "You just got lucky," he said, as he pulled out a packet of hot chocolate mix.

"A man after my own heart," Angela grinned.

"Here, I'm just going reach above you and get some mugs…"

Danny stood close behind her as she stood at the sink to get to the cabinet above her. He put a hand on her waist and his body leaned slightly against hers as he reached for the mugs from the cabinet.

In that moment, it felt like an electric current had shot up and down her spine. Angela closed her eyes and savored the amazing feeling of his hand on her waist and his chest against her back. She had to use all of her self-restraint not to turn and throw her arms around his neck, to pull his body against hers.

All too quickly, Danny had found the mugs in the cabinet above her and the warmth of his body left hers. He filled the mugs up with the warm water that was running for the dishes and then carried them over to where the packets of hot chocolate were waiting. After he had mixed them, Angela had finished loading the dishes into the washer and took her cup. He led the way over to the couch and she sat down next to him.

Angela crossed her legs underneath herself and Danny leaned casually back on his couch, and her knee rested comfortably against his thigh. They sat and sipped their hot chocolate slowly. Neither one of them wanted to disturb the comfortable silence that they were in. Lighting shown through the curtains, and a loud crash of thunder loomed above them.

"It sounds like quite a party those angels are having," Angela said softly, taking another sip.

"Yeah, it does." Danny cast a glance out the window, and then back to Angela.

"It's not going to be fun getting a cab."

Danny was silent for a moment as if he was trying to phrase the sentence correctly. "I don't… I don't think you should… go home in this weather."

Angela turned her eyes to him. He was completely serious.

"I just… I don't want you to get sick or something from the rain—"

_Oh, my God,_ Angela's brain was in a frenzy and her heart was beating out of her chest.

"—and you're already warm here—"

_What?! He can't _really_ being saying what I _think _he's saying…_

"—and this couch makes a really good bed with blankets and pillows."

At the mention of the couch, Angela relaxed slightly. She hadn't even considered that this night would turn into a night in Danny's bed (Ok, that was a lie. She had thought—_dreamt_ about it, but not seriously).

"Are you sure? I mean, I don't want to… impose or anything—"

He smiled gently. "Don't be ridiculous. It's not like I have a raging social life."

She considered it for awhile. What was the worst that could happen?

"Well. Alright. But only because you insisted."

"I do," he said with a grin. "I'll get you some blankets and pillows."

"Here, I'll take your mug…"

Ten minutes later, Danny and Angela had made up a makeshift bed for her on his couch. She was absolutely buzzing with excitement to be sleeping with Danny's blankets and pillows. It hardly sunk in that Danny would be sleeping in the room next to her.

It was late when the bed was finally put together, and although Angela felt rather tired, she knew she wasn't going to sleep very well because she would be too excited about the place she was sleeping in.

"Um, well. There you go," Danny said, rather lamely as he tossed on a last pillow. "Home sweet home."

"Thanks Danny. Really."

"Your welcome. Really."

There was an awkward pause as the two stood there, not moving. It was taking every ounce of Danny's willpower for him not to take a hold of her waist and pull her tight against his body. His hands were fidgeting with the bottom of his un-tucked shirt because they wanted too much to reach out and run along the small of her back, to her waist, to her hips. Before he did anything he regretted, he took a step backwards.

"Night," he said awkwardly. "I'll see you in the morning."

"Night, Danny."

He turned and walked into his bedroom, leaving Angela with her little bed on the couch, although both of them wanted nothing more than to spend the next nine hours within the same bed.

---

It was nearly one in the morning and Angela hadn't slept at all. She wondered if Danny was sleeping. She wondered if he had even meant anything by having her spend the night on his couch. Maybe it was just a friendly gesture. He was that kind of guy. But then again… the way he put his hand on her waist…

There was a noise from the direction of Danny's bedroom. Angela turned over and realized that it was running water. Danny was still awake.

She wasn't really sure what she was thinking, but Angela quietly got off the couch and crept over to Danny's bedroom door and looked inside. The door was open somewhat, and Angela could see that Danny wasn't in his bed, but the bathroom light was on with the door slightly ajar.

Before she could move, Danny came back out of the bathroom, dressed in a rumpled white undershirt and a pair of dark cotton pants that hung low on his non-existent hips.

And then, as if they were magnets, his eyes went straight for the open bedroom door and locked eyes with Angela and he froze.

She didn't move. She couldn't move. Even if she had wanted to move, she couldn't.

They stood there for several seconds. Danny took several steps around the bed to meet her at the door. Angela pushed his door open and stepped through the threshold into his room.

Standing right in front of him, Angela felt herself shaking all over. She was standing so close to him that she could feel his breath on her face. They stood like that for a long time. Too close, but not close enough.

Finally, very carefully, Danny lifted his hand and put it on her cheek. Angela's shivering either stopped completely or increased. She couldn't tell and she didn't care. His eyes flickered from her eyes to her lips, and he leaned in tentatively closer.

Too close, but not quite close enough.

He kissed her gently as she felt herself be pulled into his body. Her arms automatically wrapped around his neck as she kissed him back. He tightened his grip around her waist and deepened the kiss. Angela felt as if she wanted to cry as he threaded his fingers in her deep red locks.

She was suddenly up against the wall as Danny's arms squeezed her waist tightly. His tongue chased hers and she moaned gently into his mouth. His hands slipped under the oversized sweatshirt and started up her bare back, tracing along her stomach.

He pulled her with him as he guided her back over to his bed. She fell softly onto his many blankets and he soon followed, not letting his mouth stray from hers for very long. He laced his fingers in her hair and held her hips tightly. Angela cupped his face and neck as her other hand crawled down to the bottom of his shirt and began to lift it up over his back. Danny lifted his arms from her body briefly as she let him slide the shirt off of him. She discarded it quickly as Danny's mouth found her neck. She let out a louder moan as her weakness was kisses on her neck.

Her fingers traced lightly over his bare chest, taking in all of the contours of his body. He finally found his way into the sweatshirt again and began to slip it off of her. She kissed his neck and jaw line and soon both of their pants and his boxers found their way onto the floor as well. His body up against hers felt so good and so right that she never wanted to let him out of her grasp.

They joined together, and he kissed her gently and then deeply as her body moved with his. Danny's hands ran smoothly over her soft skin, his fingers dancing around her elegant curves with such care and grace. When they came, both of her hands were grasping securely around his shoulders as he gripped her waist almost painfully tight. Danny collapsed next to her in a tired, hot mess as she lay breathing heavily.

For several moments, Angela's mind was absolutely blank, only filled with the sweet aroma of sex and Danny's warm body. She was dimly aware that one of her hands was clasped around his neck or that his legs were securely intertwined with her own.

Angela slowly felt the sensation of warm, welcome sleep begin to overtake her body, but not before she felt Danny kiss her gently on the back of her neck several times. His lips brushed against her skin softly as he shifted his body to form around hers. He pulled her bare back up against his chest and kissed her neck again and fell asleep with Angela in his arms.

* * *

**A/N:** Oh. My. God.

Please leave reviews.

-Laura


	12. 012: Love Me Tender

012: Love Me Tender

The rain was still pattering softly on the window panes when Angela's eyes began to flutter open. Her fist held onto the warm navy comforter that was drawn tight around her body. The pillows and the blankets smelt of some unexplainable smell that seemed to calm her on the spot.

It took her several moments to realize where she was. This was Danny's bed. She was _in_ Danny's bed. A shiver of disbelief ran through her body and she didn't move for fear that she would wake up from the dream.

Angela could feel Danny lying next to her, and as she lay in his bed she wondered if last night had been a mistake. What if it was just a spur of the moment thing? What if Danny didn't really have feelings for her and he just wanted a night in bed? What would that mean for their friendship? And what about things at the office?

The more she thought about it, the more panicked Angela became. She certainly did not regret last night, but what if Danny did? She had no idea what he was thinking right now.

There was a slow, lazy movement next to her and it seemed as though Danny was rolling over. Angela's back was still towards him, and she didn't move in hopes that he'd still think she was asleep. What was he going to say? What was she going to say?

And then something happened. Angela felt Danny's fingers ever so lightly run down her side, dipping with the curve of her hips. He came back to the center of her side and very lightly began to trace small circles on her bare skin. All of her worries and anxieties seem to vanish as Danny's fingers gently explored the skin on her side.

Extending her legs underneath the covers, Angela slowly turned over to face Danny. He had his head propped up on his hand and looked down at her with a sleepy grin. He leaned down and kissed her gently.

"Morning," Danny said softly as his hand squeezed her waist.

"Morning," she replied and moved her body closer to his so that their legs were intertwined again.

"How'd you sleep?" He was still absentmindedly tracing circles along her arm and waist.

"Mmm… very good. You?"

"Best sleep I've gotten in a long time."

The two lay in the bed and stared at each other for a long time in comfortable silence. She played with his toes at the bottom of the bed.

"It's still raining," she said with a yawn.

"Well, I guess you'll just have to stay until it stops then."

"What a shame."

There was a low rumble of thunder, but it was accompanied by another sound that was clearly not thunder. Danny looked embarrassed but Angela just laughed quietly.

"Hungry?" she teased.

"Starving."

"Shall I prepare some breakfast?"

"I have some cinnamon rolls in the fridge," he offered as he ran his hand through his own hair which gave a whole new definition to the term "bed head."

"I'll go make some."

"No, I'll make them," Danny said, raising his torso off the mattress.

"You just sleep," Angela protested as she playfully pushed him back down. "I'll make them."

As she leaned over him, he lifted his head and kissed her. It was such a slow and simply lazy kiss that made it seem as if they had been lovers for months.

"Just don't burn them," he teased as she got up.

Angela found the sweatshirt that Danny had lent her the previous night on the ground next to his boxers and she slipped it on and found that it was large enough to sufficiently cover her.

She made her way out to his small kitchen and opened the fridge to find the cinnamon rolls as he had said. About fifteen minutes later, the whole apartment smelt of the wonderful aroma of sweet cinnamon rolls. As Angela was pouring some orange juice, she felt two strong hands take a hold of her waist.

Danny leaned his body against hers and kissed her neck tenderly. Angela tried to suppress a giggle as his morning stubble tickled her sensitive skin. She squirmed enough in his arms to make him work at kissing her, but not enough to protest.

"You have a craving for sweets this morning?" Angela asked as he wrapped his arms fully around her waist and pulled her back against him.

"Mmhmm," he answered as he kissed her again.

"Well your sweets are over there on the table."

"No, not _those_ sweets," he grinned against her neck.

The cinnamon rolls lay forgotten on the table as Angela turned around in his arms and indulged in his craving of sweets.

The rest of the morning was much of the same as they lay around his apartment, sharing slow, deep kisses whenever they felt like it, resting on the couch as they listened to the rain, and not having another care in the world as long as they were in each other's arms.

Sometime late in the afternoon, they lay together on the couch in gorgeous silence. Angela rested her head on Danny's broad, safe chest and listened to the steady beat of his heart. His chest rose and fell rhythmically and her cheek rubbed softly against his cotton shirt.

Her fingers played gently with the folds of the material, tracing the contours of his chest through the shirt. They glided slowly over the dips and curves of his shoulder and upper arms, jumping slightly with warmth and pleasure when they came in contract with his skin.

Danny's fingers ran through the tips of Angela's dark red hair, loving the feel of it between his rough fingers. As he breathed out of his nose, some of her hair would move with the slight breeze. He entertained himself for a long time doing this until Angela squeezed his upper arm and sighed.

"How did we get here?" Her voice was soft and almost dreamy, and she spoke as if she was smiling in amusement.

"Well, we moved from the bed to the kitchen to the couch, back to the bed and then—"

"Danny," she said, turning her face into his chest as she tried to suppress her giggle. "Really."

Danny paused for awhile, letting the hair slip out of his fingers before he answered.

"I don't know," he said truthfully. He looked down at the top of her head. She looked up at him from his chest and planted a kiss on his nose. Her eyes were a calm, quiet blue though close to the pupils, there was an explosion of rich, mossy green. "One minute we're blowing up at each other and the next…"

"We're here…" Angela finished for him, turning her head to rest on his chest again. "I wonder how that happens… What changed, you know?"

"Maybe because we actually stopped fighting," Danny chuckled softly, making Angela's head vibrate against his chest.

"Maybe it's because you stopped being so arrogant," she teased, giving his side a playful squeeze.

"Me? Arrogant?" He pretended to sound mortally offended. "If it's anyone who was arrogant, it was you, my dear."

"I don't think so."

"I do. And I think it's because you realized that my good looks and charm are simply irresistible."

Angela snorted in laughter. "Oh, I'm _sure_ that's it.

"I think so too."

"See? There you go again. You _are_ arrogant."

"I am not."

"Yes, you are."

"If I'm arrogant, then you're stubborn. And you argue a lot."

"I do not!"

"Aha. There. You're arguing with me."

"How can I not argue about being argumentative?"

"Because it proves my point."

"What _was_ your point?"

Danny paused. "I don't remember. But whatever it is, I proved it. I'm right. You're wrong."

"Arrogant."

"Stubborn."

"Arrogant."

"Stubborn."

Angela turned and looked at him again, her nose wrinkled in that cute little way whenever someone's not listening to her. She stared at him for several seconds before pushing herself up further onto him and kissed him.

Though slightly surprised, Danny regretted when she pulled away again.

"You'd kiss someone who's arrogant?" he teased.

"I didn't hear any complaints from kissing someone who's stubborn."

"That's because I like it when you're stubborn."

She grinned and kissed him again.

"Good," Angela said as she kissed a spot close to his ear. "Because you're pretty cute when you're arrogant. In an annoying sort of way."

"What? Now you're calling me annoying?"

"What are you gonna do about it?"

Danny looked at Angela grinning at him for several seconds before cupping her face in his hand.

"Absolutely nothing," he said softly as he pulled her up to kiss him again.

**A/N:** This was actually a really short chapter, but I made it longer because I dislike chapters that a too short. I hoped you guys liked it! Your reactions to the last chapter were priceless. They were mostly varieties of "THANK GOD!" and "FINALLY!" Hahaha. It made me laugh.

Anyways, review the chapter! Thanks so much for your feedback! It makes me terribly happy!

Have an amazing weekend, everyone!

-Laura


	13. 013: Playful

013: Playful

Monday was almost painful for Angela. She and Danny had spent the entire weekend together, only leaving his apartment to go over to hers in order to get clean clothes. Most of the time was admittedly spent either on the couch or tucked into the warm covers of his bed, but the almost lazy quality of the weekend was something that the both of them needed. Saturday and Sunday had been a mixed routine of making love, sleeping, kissing, eating, and repeating.

Angela spent Sunday night back at her own apartment and it seemed so different to be alone again. She knew Monday was going to be difficult, but she didn't know how hard it really was going to be.

Danny had suggested keeping their relationship under wraps for a few weeks and even after that to keep it very low key. He had seen how office relationships had ended up before, and he wanted everyone to ease into the idea.

She and Danny didn't talk for most of the morning, although he did come over to her desk, pretending to check on the alibi that she was working, to give her a kiss instead. Relationships in offices, but especially this office, were hard to keep up with since lives were at stake while they were on duty.

"Ok, I'm going to need these background checks," Samantha said as she approached Angela's desk with a file in her hand. "And then would you call the hospitals and morgues to check for Davis Grand? Some of his friends say that he got into a fight on Saturday night…"

"No problem. Are you going to see Jack in the next thirty seconds?" Angela asked, typing away madly on her computer.

"Yeah, I'm going to go fill him in on the hooker that we just apprehended."

"Would you give him these? They're the emails we got off the kid's computer."

"Alright. Oh, and Danny called and said that once he got here he was going to need the alibi run downs of those kids at the arcade."

"I've got them right here," she said lifting up several sheets of paper.

Samantha paused as she looked at Angela. "How's it going with you two?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, how's it going?"

"Good," she replied simply, not really wanting to go into details. Samantha was just being curious, but she didn't think it was good to let her know just yet.

"Really good?"

"Pretty good."

"Hey, do you have those alibis?" Danny walked up between the two women and leaned on Angela's chair.

"Yeah, I've got them right here," Angela said, turning to grab the stack of papers.

"Uh, I'm going to go… talk to Jack," Samantha said suddenly, leaving Angela and Danny.

Angela sighed. "She's definitely been trying to get me to talk all day."

"Martin's been the same way. Nosy agents, hmm?"

"Yeah. Did you… tell him?"

"No. Did you tell Samantha?"

"No."

There was a small pause between the two of them. Then Danny cast a quick glance around them and leaned down close to Angela as if he were studying the pieces of paper she had on her desk. He turned her face gently with his hand and kissed her slowly.

"You know, I was thinking about getting some take out tonight," he said, trying to act casual and as if he was asking her out on a first date. His fingers gently massaged her neck, though he positioned his body so that anyone looking would simply see him standing next to her. "And if you wanted to drop by… say around eight or nine… I might share some with you."

"I don't know…" she pretended to protest, but she took a hold of his tie and tugged playfully at it. "I'm awfully busy with this paperwork…"

"You are an _imp_," Danny grinned, acting hurt as he yanked his tie away from her grasp. "Thanks for the alibis."

"All in a day's work," Angela called after his retreating back. She smiled quietly to herself and planned for another long night.

---

The first awkward days at the office became incorporated into Angela and Danny's routine. He spent the night at her apartment for the first time, and after that, they slept together at least twice a week. Angela discovered that Danny was now keeping some of his clothes in her closet, and she even found one of his ties draped across her kitchen chair one morning.

While they tried to keep their personal lives out of the office, Danny and Angela managed to make working in the same office a game. They would often see how far they could take things before getting caught.

It started out with small things, like Danny placing a hand on her waist or Angela purposely brushing up against him. But as the weeks went on, the two became more and more daring.

"This call came in at 5:34 that morning, and then right after that call, Booker made another call to _this_ number," Angela explained to Jack as she showed him her findings. "Which is registered to—get this—a guy by the name of Lewis _Oakland._"

"How's he related to the missing boy?" Jack asked quickly.

"It's his uncle. He's got something to do with the disappearance."

"Where's he located?"

"Umm…" Angela consulted her papers. "Albany."

"Alright… we'll send someone out there now. Oh, there's Danny. Danny!" Jack called as Danny was walking by the pair.

"Yes?" He stopped short right behind Angela.

"I'm going to need you and Martin—" Danny's hand touched Angela's waist and then gave it a small squeeze, though he was completely paying attention to Jack. "—to go out to Albany and talk to this Lewis Oakland guy."

"Alright," Danny nodded. "Samantha's got something on the car that Booker was driving. You'll have to talk to her." His hand moved lower on Angela and she almost laughed in disbelief that he was doing this right in front of Jack, even if he couldn't see it.

"Good. You and Martin head out there and see what you can find."

With a nod to Jack, Danny left to go fetch Martin and Jack departed to go talk to Samantha, leaving Angela alone, but not quite lonely.

Later that week, the calls had been slow and there weren't a lot of things to be done around the office. Thus Jack decided that if she wasn't doing anything, Angela could tidy up the file room. This was definitely _not_ in the job description.

"Wow. What'd you do to deserve this?" Vivian chuckled as she walked into the file room with yet another manila folder in hand.

"God only knows," Angela grumbled as she took the file that Vivian handed her. "It's going to take ages to sort through all of this stuff."

"It's not _that_ bad. We kept it pretty well organized," Vivian defended.

"Except that the Winslow case is definitely in the "B" drawer," she said, holding up the folder.

"Oh. Well. Minor detail. If you need a break, there's a strawberry pastry on my desk that you can have."

"Aww, thanks Viv."

With a smile, Vivian left Angela to do her filing. Not but five minutes later as she was trying to locate the "R-T" drawer, a familiar pair of hands found their way to her waist.

"You just cannot help yourself, can you?" Angela chuckled as she finally found the drawer and deposited the file.

"Well, we've just got to stop meeting like this," Danny said as he kissed her neck.

"Danny," she giggled softly, pushing him away. "You can't _do_ that."

"Says who?" he asked, kissing her again.

"Someone could walk in."

"Let 'em look." He kissed her longer this time, and she stopped protesting as he pulled her close to him.

Finally as if he had regained some sense, Danny pulled away, but he still had a mischievous grin on his face.

"I brought you something," he said in a sing-song voice and pulled out a small white paper bag.

"Let me guess…" Angela said as she took the bag from his hand. "It's a strawberry pastry."

His face fell a little. "How'd you know?"

"Because it was conveniently located on Vivian's desk about ten minutes ago," she replied with a smile. "But it's the thought that counts. Thanks."

"I thought you could use the break anyways. I could not do this filing."

"Yeah. I'd take two armed guys running down the street any day of the week. But what are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be… finding someone?"

"Ah. We found her. It was nothing big actually. She just ran away to her friend's house."

"Mmm," she said as she took a bite of the pastry. "This is good."

"Well, I picked it out just for you."

"Oh, I know you did. They have such a big selection."

Danny grinned and put his hand around her waist and pulled her close to him and then kissed her on the side of her head. "I like where we are."

"I do too."

"You wouldn't change it?"

"Change it to what?"

"To… a more public relationship?"

Angela considered it for a few moments. "Maybe some day. But it's kind of nice having a secret. And it's fun to have these secret meetings."

"It kind of is, isn't it?"

Danny leaned in to kiss her again, but stopped when his cell phone rang.

"Aha. I told you someone was watching," Angela teased as he picked up his phone.

"I'll see you later? I'll come around six? I can bring a movie."

"Oh, movie night," she said excitedly. "Sounds like fun."

"Alright. Six it is."

"What's happening at six?" asked Martin as he walked into the file room with another file. "Oh, and this is for you," he said, handing Angela the file.

"Oh, nothing," Angela said quickly, taking the file from him. "I was just saying that I only have six more files to go through."

"Oh. Right," Martin said skeptically. "Isn't that Vivian's pastry?"

**A/N:** Hey guys! I can't believe it's _only_ Tuesday… gross… Anyways, hope you guys liked this chapter… a little cute one. The next chapter takes things for a bit of a twist, so get ready for that.

Thank you all SO MUCH for your positive feedback on this story! It's been AMAZING! I'm always having to change my "over reads." Do you realize that this story has gotten nearly 4000 hits? Do you know how AMAZING that is for me? I mean, that just blows my mind. It's incredible.

Anyways, thanks again and look forward to Friday!

-Laura


	14. 014: Rethinking Things

014: Rethinking Things

Angela had honestly never been this happy for a long, long time. It had been about a month since the first time that she and Danny had been together. It was now a sort of an unspoken knowledge that Angela and Danny were involved. They started going out to dinner again and doing more "date-like" activities, although they tended to keep their relationship out of the office more now that it was more public.

It seemed as if it was going to be just another day at the office. Angela was talking to several banks in order to get some ATM surveillance videos, and Danny and the others were on site looking for a missing woman. He had been so excited the previous night because he was going to be undercover for the case, something he hadn't had a chance to do for awhile. Angela had been slightly concerned for him, but Danny assured her with a smile and a kiss that it was nothing to worry about.

"At about 2:15 that afternoon to about 5:00. Yes, ma'am, we'd like all of that footage," Angela repeated to yet another bank as she sat back in her chair and watched some background checks print off. "Yes, if you could just send it to our tech team that would help us out a lot. Oh, wait, could you hold please? Ok, thank you."

Her other line was beeping and caller ID flashed "Malone."

"Hey, Jack. I've got the backgrounds printing off, the ATM videos on the way, and the credit cards—"

"Angela, I, uh…" Jack's voice sounded as if he was searching for the words. "I think you need to come down to the hospital."

"What? Why? Did you find something there?"

"No… it's, uh. Angela, it's Danny."

There was a long, pregnant pause as she let the words sink in. "What? What's wrong with him? Is he hurt? Is he ok?"

"Just calm down. He's alright, but he's pretty roughed up."

"Oh, my God. What happened? What—how did this— St. Vincent's?"

"Yeah."

"Ok, I'll be right over."

---

"Danny Taylor," Angela said immediately as she came onto the nurses' station. "I need to see Danny Taylor."

"Are you related?"

"No, but—"

"I'm sorry, ma'am, but we can't let you see him then."

"You don't understand. I _need_ to see him."

"We can't allow you to do that. Protocol."

"But… wait," Angela reached into her pocket and pulled out her badge. "This wouldn't help, would it?"

"Oh, why didn't you show that in the first place?" The nurse checked her clipboard. "Danny Taylor is in room 304. That's just down this hall to the left."

Angela didn't stay to hear anymore as she took off down the hall. 301… 302… 303…

The door to 304 was open and she skidded into the room to find Martin and Samantha already there, standing next to a bed where Danny was lying. Angela's eyes began to burn and she was having difficulty breathing when she saw him.

"Uh, I'm going to go get something to drink," Martin said quickly. "Sam, you want to come?"

Samantha didn't say anything, but followed Martin as they walked passed Angela who stayed rooted to the spot as she looked on at her Danny, lying in the white hospital bed.

His face was badly bruised and there was a large cut over his eye that looked as if it had been stitched up just awhile ago. His knuckles were taped up probably from beating them bloody trying to protect himself. The sight of his broken body was almost too much for Angela.

"It's not as bad as it looks," Danny said gently.

"Danny…" she said in a near whisper. She started walking towards him finally, her eyes looking over his body. "What did they do to you?"

"It just went bad. They figured I wasn't who I said I was. They said my grammar was too good."

"It's not funny, Danny."

"I know, but Angela. I'm alright. I'm still here, aren't I?"

She reached the side of his bed, and he took her hand in his bandaged on. Holding on to it, she lifted it to her lips and kissed it gently.

"I'm going to be alright. Ok?"

"But… are you sure?"

"No broken bones. Just a few bruises, and then this stupid cut on my forehead. I swear to you, I'm fine. You don't have to worry about me."

Angela put her hand on his head and ran her fingers through his short, dark hair. "Ok," she said softly, though she was still out of her mind in fear. "You got the woman though, right?"

Danny hesitated. "Her body."

Angela nodded slowly, not wanting to think about it anymore. She looked around and pulled up the chair next to Danny's bedside. The two of them didn't speak for the next several hours, just being their in each other's presence for hours until Angela drifted into an uneasy sleep.

---

Danny was released from the hospital after a few days after the bruising had gone down more. He was more than ready to get back onto the field, and nothing like a few bruises was going to keep him very long from the place he belonged.

But it seemed as though Angela was having more trouble with him being back in the field than he was. She knew that the beating had just been a fluke in the plan, but it still didn't make her feel any easier.

It was one of the first nights that Angela had been back in Danny's apartment since he had been released from the hospital. He was sleeping soundly next to her with his arm draped lazily over her waist, but she was still awake.

She rolled onto her side, and to her surprise, Danny's arm lifted off of her body. She turned over to see him awake next to her.

"If I had known you were awake, I would have said something," he said sleepily. "What are you doing up?"

"I'm scared for you," she said, finally letting out what she had been thinking for the past week.

"You are?" Danny furrowed his brow. "Why?"

"You know why."

"Oh. Because of last week? Angela, that was just a few bruises—"

"But it could have been more, Danny! They could have killed you!"

"No, they couldn't have," he said, with slight annoyance in his voice. "There was no way that they could have hurt me."

"Then what do you call that gash above your eye?"

Danny ran his fingers over the healing scar above his eye quickly, as if he were trying to hide it. "It's not a gash. It's a cut."

"It's the same thing, Danny."

"What are you trying to say, Angela?"

"I'm saying that I'm scared for you. Out on the field. I mean, anything could happen. You could… you could end up like Brady… And I don't want to lose you…"

Danny was silent as Angela lowered her head and blinked away her tears. After a few moments, his fingers lifted her head gently as he looked her earnestly in the eyes.

"Hey… listen to me," he said seriously, brushing her hair out of her face. "You're not going to lose me, ok?"

"But… what if something bad happens?"

"Nothing's going to happen to me."

"How can you say that?"

"Because. I just know."

"No, you don't, Danny. That's just the point."

"Hey… do you trust me?"

Angela bit her lip as she looked at him and a tear rolled down her face. Danny's thumb brushed it aside.

"Do you?" he repeated softly.

She nodded quietly.

"Alright then. I promise you. Nothing bad is going to happen to me. I promise."

She was silent for awhile. "Promise?"

"Promise."

They were quiet for awhile longer. She sniffed loudly, and Danny smiled gently. He pulled her into his arms against his large, warm body and kissed her on the side of her head.

"I promise," he whispered.

**A/N**: Whee! Ok, now I don't have to be the one to tell you that this maybe, might possibly (aka _definitely_) will play a part later in the story. But. You guys knew that, right:)

Anyways, so I hoped you enjoyed the chapter. School has been insane. I swear to God, they're trying to kill us. I'm trying to link a short story that I wrote (I mean… haven't written _yet_) to the Civil War and then how it's relevant to today. This is what I have to say to that: …

And I haven't exactly _finished_ the story yet…

SO. This promises to be an _interesting_ weekend. I hope yours is less stressful than mine! Take care!

-Laura


	15. 015: Freckles And Kisses

015: Freckles and Kisses

The soft light of the morning pressed gently on Danny's eyelids. He squeezed them shut, trying to block the inevitable of waking up. He turned his head slightly and his face was greeted with a sweet-smelling dark red hair.

Danny's eyes opened a little as a smile crept across his face. His fingers found their way to her soft arms and traced invisible lines up and down her sleeping form.

He watched her sleep for a long time, not ready to wake his sleeping beauty. Her arms were exposed under his comforter. It always gave his a warm, tingling sensation to see Angela in _his_ bed. The fact that two things so different—Angela and his bed—could coexist in such beautiful grace gave him shivers. It almost seemed like she was out of place when he watched her sleep in his bed, as if he could never have possibly done anything to deserve her to be this close to him and to share something so personal as a bed.

His fingers danced lightly on her arms and he tilted his head to the side as his fingers traced over several freckles on her arms. It was odd and slightly exhilarating that every time he was with Angela, he seemed to notice something different about her. This time it was the fact that her arms were dotted with freckles.

Some red heads' arms were just covered in freckles and others' were more evenly distributed. But Angela's were different. There were just a few every now and then. Three on her left hand. Four on her other hand. He counted twenty-seven freckles on her right arm. She had a larger freckle just at the beginning of her hairline at the crest of her head, and five on her neck. She even had a tiny freckle on the tip of the cartilage of her left ear.

Danny made a vow to himself that one night he would count every freckle on her body. For no particular reason. Just because it gave him so much pleasure to know how many freckles she had (forty-six was all he had counted so far), how many scars she had (one on her knee from falling off her bike when she was young, two from a knife wound just above her left wrist, and one below her ankle from shaving), what her favorite flower was (white tulips), her favorite Disney movie (_The Lion King_), and even where she kept her secret stash of chocolate (in one of the five canisters that held coffee, sugar, and salt—Angela still thought that Danny didn't know about this stash).

He didn't know why it made him so happy. It just did.

And the thought kind of scared him.

When had he opened himself up to her so much? Why was he able to trust her so much? What was it about her that made him not just smile but to feel all warm? For heaven's sake, he was Danny Taylor. The lone ranger. The one who kept himself guarded. Danny Taylor didn't let anyone into his armor.

And yet one woman—the one woman who he thought that he had despised—had managed to crack his seemingly unbreakable exterior. How had she done that? Without him even realizing it?

_There's gotta be _some_ reason,_ Danny thought to himself as he absentmindedly stroked Angela's bare side. _Something really subtle…_

The thought made Danny furrow his brow in concentration. Why had he opened up to her?

_Come on, Danny, this can't be _that_ hard to figure out,_ he thought as he lay back against his pillows.

But the harder he thought, the more confused he became. What was so different about Angela? Why was she so different than the others?

_Well… she's smart… and funny… and gorgeous…_

_Yes,_ said a little voice in the back of his head. _But so were the others._

_Ok,_ Danny thought, arguing inside his head with the voice. _She… makes me feel special._

_Why?_ asked the voice.

_Because. Because of the way she kisses me. I love the way she kisses me. And I love the way she feels in my arms. I love the way she hugs me. I love the way she smiles. I love her laugh. I love her eyes. I love how she tells me when I'm being stupid._

_Come to any conclusions?_ asked the voice, taunting him slightly.

_I… I love everything about her._

_Now take out the words "everything about."_

The thought hit Danny very suddenly and very hard, even though the simplicity of the sentence was almost laughable.

_I love her._

_See,_ said the voice. _Told you. It's not that hard to figure out. You love her. That's why you let her in. That's why she's different. Because _you **love** her.

Danny lay there for awhile as he let this new revelation wash over him. Of course he knew he cared deeply about Angela. That was a given. But the power of the word "love"… He hadn't really given a thought to it.

And now that he thought about it… it was absolutely true. He didn't just adore her. He didn't just care about her. He didn't just ache for her. He _loved_ her. He was _in love_ with Angela. Danny Taylor, the lone ranger, was in love with Angela Harper, the mysterious angel.

Deep in his thoughts, Danny hardly felt the soft, warm form shift next to him.

Angela rolled over gently to face him. She yawned widely and stretched her freckled arms above her head and pushed them against the headboard.

"Good morning," she smiled as she raised her torso up to kiss him. She pulled back with a suppressed giggle, and touched her fingers to his chin. "You need to shave."

"Morning yourself, sleepy head," he grinned back. "You think I need to shave?"

Angela fell back into pillows and nodded, smiling as she bit her lip.

"Why's that? Hmm? Is it scratchy? Does it tickle when I kiss you? Hmm?" He had a big smile on his face and Angela had a sneaking suspicion of what he was going to do next.

"You wouldn't—"

"Wouldn't what?"

"Wouldn't—"

"Do this?"

Danny lunged on top of her and began to kiss her neck roughly and playfully as Angela laughed hysterically underneath him. Her hands pushed against his bare chest to try to push him off of her, but he was far too strong for her. His morning stubble rubbed roughly against the soft skin on her neck and face and squirmed and laughed under him.

"Danny! Danny, get off!" Angela laughed loudly.

"Not yet!" he smiled as he took her earlobe into his mouth and tugged on it gently.

Her fingers that had been pushing against his chest almost involuntarily made like claws and scratched his skin as his tongue traced the curves of her ear. Her hips arched slightly against his between the sheets and she exhaled deeply into his neck.

"Still want me to get off?" Danny asked her as he pulled back and watched her with a surprised smile on her face.

"Maybe not…" she grinned slyly as her hand snaked up to his neck and pulled him back down for another kiss.

Their tongues danced merrily as they sunk into another lazy, loving Saturday.

**A/N:** Hello, loves! New chapter! Hope you liked it! Fluff love.

Thanksgiving is this week so you know what that means! No school! Thank God! Especially because my semester project was due today, and I got sick over the weekend trying to do it. Yeah, it sucked.

But that also means that I won't be able to update on Friday because I'm going to be out of town for the holidays. I know, I know. Tear, tear. But I'll be home hopefully on Saturday, so I will definitely update then!

Leave reviews! Thanks for reading!

-Laura

**EDIT:** What the hell. I just realized that today is MONDAY… and I still updated… I think something is really wrong with me… but whatever. This will make up for the fact that I won't be updating until Saturday.

Wow, I'm a spaz…


	16. 016: Three Little Words

016: Three Little Words

The lazy Saturday passed by slow, just as Danny and Angela liked it. The afternoon slowly crept up on the couple and stomachs began to growl. Another storm seemed to be brewing in the mid-March weather, and from the reports on the radio, it sounded like it was going to be a big one. Even though it was only about three in the afternoon, the sky was nearly black with clouds.

"I like storms," Angela said, decidedly as she flipped through the Chinese menu that Danny had handed her. "I think they're therapeutic."

"Mhm…" Danny said, not really listening as he flipped through his own menu.

"Especially the thunder. I like the thunder."

"Yeah."

Angela threw him a look, but he wasn't looking at her.

"Oh, and I like it when the green rain falls with the purple polka-dotted clouds."

"Mhm…" Danny agreed.

"Danny!"

"I'm just kidding," he grinned as he walked over to his phone to make the order. "Figure out what you want for lunch?"

"Shrimp fried rice."

"You always get that."

"Because I know it's good. What are _you_ getting? Sesame chicken?"

Danny hesitated before saying in a very unconvincing tone, "No."

"Liar. Admit it. We like routine."

"Yes, I'd like to place an order," Danny said into the phone as he rolled his eyes at Angela who subsequently threw a pillow at him.

The storm did end up meeting the expectations of the weathermen and Danny and Angela listened to the rage of the wind and rain inside as they ate their routine Chinese meal. It was actually still quite cold, and Angela had suggested that they light the fire in Danny's fireplace, and so it crackled happily in the corner of the room as the two of them sat on the floor in by his couch.

In mid-bite the lights went out.

"Well, this is kind of a damper, isn't it?" Danny said, though Angela could only see his silhouette in the fire.

"Flashlights?"

"Uh, yeah, there are some in the kitchen… I'll get some."

"I'll help—"

The only thing that Angela accomplished by helping was that the two of them ran into each other about every twelve seconds.

"Ouch!"

"Oh, sorry, Danny! I didn't know you were there."

"Well, I am."

"Wait, this flashlight doesn't work."

"Damn. Maybe there are some over—"

"Ouch, Danny that was my foot!"

"Well, you moved!"

"Yes, people tend to do that."

"Oh, shush."

Danny had apparently found a working flashlight because the kitchen was suddenly illuminated by a beam of yellow light.

"Here, this will do. Now you walk in front so I don't step on you again," Danny grinned.

Angela sat down back on the floor and watched Danny set the flashlight up so that it pointed up to the ceiling, giving off some light in all directions. He walked back over to her and sat down. It was a rather homey feeling as he was dressed in some grey sweatpants and a white cotton shirt and she was in some flannel plaid pants and an old shirt.

"Do you want some shrimp?" Angela offered, holding her chopsticks out to him.

"Well, I don't mind if I do."

He leaned over and ate the shrimp off of her chopsticks, watching her as he did. For some reason it sent shivers down her spine.

"Chicken?" he offered her, also holding out his chopsticks.

"I think I will."

Danny stretched his arm over as she leaned over and ate the chicken off of his chopsticks, not taking her eyes off of him.

They ate in relative silence for several more minutes as the fire crackled next to them and the storm raged outside.

Danny grabbed his fortune cookie from the bag and tossed Angela one too. He cracked it open and unfurled the fortune within.

"What's yours say?" he asked her as she also cracked hers open.

"It says… _'You will live a life full of love.'_ How cute. What's yours say?"

"Mine says… '_You will have hot, mad sex with the woman of your choice._"

Angela snorted with laughter. "It does not, dumbass. What's it really say?"

"That's what it really says!"

"You are such a little liar!" she laughed. "You just want to forget lunch and get into bed."

"What, you don't believe me? Ang, I'm _hurt._"

"Ok, fine, let me see it."

"You want to see it?"

"Yes. Let me see if that's what it really says."

"Fine."

With one swift movement, Danny was right on top of her, his hands at her hips and his mouth mere inches away from hers.

"Believe me?" he whispered.

"Yeah," she was just able to breathe before he closed the already small gap between them and kissed her.

She _loved_ to kiss Danny. To be here, to be in his arms, to be kissing him, just to _be _with him was beyond anything she could ever imagine.

All too sudden, he pulled back from her. There was something different in his eyes tonight. Something that she couldn't tell what it was.

"Danny, what's—"

"I love you."

She was slightly stunned at his words. They had exchanged these three words for awhile now, but only in the passing or maybe when they went to bed or got up in the mornings. But he had never right out told her. Not until now.

The corners of Angela's mouth began to turn up as she felt herself begin to blush, although she wasn't quite sure why. He had seen her naked, he had seen her at her clumsiest, maddest, and craziest, he had seen nearly every aspect of her, and yet those words made her feel as though he had just given her a first kiss.

"I love you too," she said gently as she smiled up at him.

"I never knew how much I loved you. I've never loved anyone like this before. This… this is like nothing I've ever known. Angela, I _love_ you."

"Danny…" she breathed softly as her fingers touched his lips. She could feel tears begin to form in the corner of her eyes. "Danny…"

"Can you say it again?"

"I love you," Angela whispered with a soft smile. "Danny, I love you. I. Love. You."

Danny's heart could have burst as he leaned down and kissed Angela again, bringing her body as tight as he could against his own.

---

Angela was brushing her teeth in Danny's bathroom as he attempted to make the bed at least sleep-able. The sheets and covers had been so twisted and turned and tossed off the bed from previous encounters that it made even lying down on the bed almost impossible.

As she spit out the toothpaste and water and dried her mouth and hands off with the towel, a pair of very warm, large hands found their way to her waist. A familiar mouth found its way to her neck and kissed at her hungrily.

"Danny, you can't even wait until I'm _out_ of the bathroom?"

"No," he said simply in between kisses.

"But I—"

Danny suddenly turned Angela around and pushed her back against the doorway of the bathroom. His tongue begged for entrance to her mouth which she granted as her hands grasped his broad shoulders. One of his hands cupped her neck and tilted her face up towards his and the other held her waist tightly as if he was afraid that she would escape.

They somehow made it to the bed where Angela threw the blankets on top of both of them as she was still quite cold. Danny's hips pressed forcefully down on hers causing her to break the kiss as give a small gasp. Her hands reached inside his shirt and pulled it up over his head and her fingers began to trace the contours of his back muscles.

Danny was slightly quicker in getting all of Angela's clothes off, but soon they both lay with only each other as coverings. In the process, Angela had found her way on top of him and kissed him without intent of ever stopping. His fingers grasped her thighs tightly as she kissed his neck, almost nipping at him.

Danny managed to roll them over so that he was on top of her again, and no sooner had he done this than had he entered her. He caught her almost by surprise and she gripped his shoulders tighter than normal, and her fingernails scraped his back.

They moved together in almost faultless rhythm, which had been perfected over the past few months. It was almost second nature to Angela now, but not something that was completely jaded to her. No, it felt like something new each time. But there was no clumsiness or uncertainty in either one of their movements. There was nothing but the pure wonder of two people sharing in the most sacred act.

As they came, Danny's hands gripped Angela's hips far too tight, but she made up for that by scratching his shoulders as they pulled each other tighter.

After lying there for several moments, as each tried to catch their breath, Danny's arms once again found the curve of Angela's hips. That was their place. That was where Danny's arms belonged, and that's where Angela's hips belonged.

They were to belong to each other. Nothing else made sense.

**A/N:** I decided they needed some action. I'm not seeing anyone complaining. Hmm? No. I didn't think so.

Anyways, I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! Sorry for the belated update! And yay for seeing the title of the story in the chapter! Squee!

As for where the story's headed, I think—whoa. Wait. There are penguins in my Goldfish. WHAT. OK, sorry. Anyways, things do take another twist in a few chapters so watch out for that. It's not pure fluff from here on out. I do actually have a plot going here. These fluffy scenes just make it even more tragic—I mean… :)

Update on Tuesday! Thanks for sticking with me! Chapter sixteen and still going strong! Thanks everyone!

-Laura

(PS- I love random banter & shrimp fried rice)

**Edit-** I completely apologize for the lateness on this chapter! The site wasn't allowing me to upload documents until this evening! Thanks for being patient! Update will be on Friday!


	17. 017: A Handyman

017: A Handyman

"But I need someone to help me moving the furniture," Angela said as she pretended to bat her eyelashes.

"Uh-uh," Danny said, walking back to his desk with a folder in his hand, as they wrapped up another case. "Don't you bat your eyes at me."

"Oh, come on, Danny," she pleaded. "It'll be fun."

Danny scoffed and turned to look at her with doubt.

"Please?"

"But tomorrow's our day off," Danny tried to reason with her. "Can't we just… _pretend_ we painted your room, and do something else instead?"

"Like what?"

"Like… stay in your bed for the entire day?"

"Danny. Come on. It won't take that long. And it'll be fun. A project."

"Wouldn't you rather just watch the Mets?"

"It's only March, Danny. Games don't even start for another month or two."

Danny looked as if he was trying to find another excuse to get out of helping Angela painting her room. She had been meaning to do it for awhile, and with Danny's help it would go a lot faster.

"And if you help me," Angela said taking several steps closer to him and slipping her hands inside his jacket to rest on his waist. "I promise that you'll be well rewarded."

This offer seemed to seriously tempt Danny as he looked at her with a thoughtful expression.

"Fine. Alright, alright, you win," he finally conceded as Angela beamed at him. "But this reward had better be worth it."

"Oh, it will be," she said with a wink. "How about you come over sometime tonight, and then we'll go to the paint store in the morning?"

"Hey, you're the boss."

Angela just smiled. "Oh, speaking of bosses, Jack said that he wanted you and Vivian to check out the CD store where the missing guy worked."

"Alright, I'll see you tonight?"

"I hope so." Angela stood on her toes and gave Danny a kiss.

"Hey, none of that business at the office," Danny said, pretending to be serious. "I know you're just captivated by my good looks, but you can't just throw yourself at me."

"Get out of here," she said, whacking him on the shoulder with the file in her hand.

---

The clock to Angela's left now read 8:16 AM. She and Danny had planned to be at the hardware store at 8:30, but it was becoming apparent that that wasn't going to be happening.

"Danny… we have to get up…" Angela protested sleepily as he pinned her down and kissed her neck early the next morning.

"No, we don't." His voice was muffled against her neck. "We can just stay here."

"Not if we want to actually get to painting."

"As I said, we can just stay here."

She laughed lightly and finally managed to push Danny away from her. "Come on. Let's go."

"Mmph," Danny groaned, as Angela slid out of his arms and onto the cold, hardwood floor.

She went into the kitchen and began making coffee and heating up some bagels, and not a long time later she heard the water in her shower running.

Sipping her coffee quietly, Angela looked at the paint samples and tried to figure out which one she wanted for her room. She had always been indecisive about these sorts of things. After about five minutes, she had it narrowed down to a muted dandelion yellow and a pale sky blue.

"I like the yellow." A pair of strong, damp arms wrapped around her as she was holding her bagel.

"Mmm… I think I do too."

"Oh, bagels!" Danny said excitedly. "And you toasted them! How'd you know?"

"Because. I'm amazing like that."

"That you are," he said kissing her on her temple. "Now go shower so we can get this over with."

---

It was a little over an hour before they came back from the hardware store even though they had only been going to pick out some paint. They had both gotten side-tracked: Angela found a ceiling fan that she really liked and Danny couldn't seem to stop touching all of the power tools within a hundred foot radius.

"I still don't see why you got to buy your paint _and_ a new ceiling fan, and I couldn't get that drill," Danny teased as he carried the large box with the fan in it up her stairs. "Or why I get stuck carrying it."

"Hey," Angela laughed. "You were the one who said, and I quote, 'This is a man's job.' You've got yourself to blame on that one."

It wasn't long after that they arrived at the apartment that the ceiling fan pieces lay on the ground as Danny tried to figure out where piece 47B was so that he could connect it to piece 13J. Angela changed into some painting clothes as she began to pour the paint into the tray.

"Ok, are you ready?" she said excitedly as she held her paint roller a few inches from her wall. "This is going to be the first paint to touch the wall."

"The excitement is just really building in here, Ang," Danny said as he rolled his eyes with a grin. He had adopted calling her "Ang" as a pet name whenever he was teasing her, which he did quite often.

Painting did seem to lose its excitement after about half an hour later. Angela's back ached from standing and then bending down every so often to get paint on her roller. The apartment smelt strongly of paint so much that Danny had opened the window even though it was a chilly day in mid-March.

While Angela finished her first wall, Danny was nearly done putting the fan together. With a short laugh of satisfaction he stood up and examined his handiwork.

"Ha! Done!"

Angela groaned as she turned from the wall she was painting. Her face, hands, clothes, and even her shoes had random splashes of paint. "Well that makes _one_ of us…"

"You want to trade?" Danny asked as he walked over to her over the complete mess that he had made trying to assemble the fan.

"Oh, no. Whitewashing this fence is so much fun. I'd never let anyone else do it."

"Aww, come on, Tom," Danny played along. "Let me have a turn."

"I don't know…" she teased playfully, turning her back to him.

"Hey, you know what?" he asked coming up behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist. "I'll pay you if you let me paint your fence."

"You will? Well, that's mighty nice of you."

"Yes, I will."

"And how might you be paying me?"

Instead of responding, Danny just kissed her. She wondered if he was even aware that she was probably getting paint all over his clothes.

"I don't really have any money," he said pulling away from her. "But I think we can reach an agreement."

Angela laughed. "Such a charmer."

"Well, I do try," he grinned.

"Not hard enough. You've got paint on your cheek."

"What? I do?"

"Yeah. Right there."

Angela reached up, but instead of getting the paint off of his cheek, she accidentally just smudged it with the paint already on her fingers.

"Oh, whoops."

"You did that on purpose!"

"I did not!"

"Yeah, well you have paint on your nose."

"I do not," she protested, but before she could stop him, he reached down and smudged some across her nose.

Stunned between amusement and disbelief, Angela simply stood there with her mouth open as she watched Danny try to hold back his laughter.

"I… can_not…_ believe that you just did that," she said slowly as she found herself shaking with laughter as well.

"Hey, what goes around comes around," he grinned. "Why don't you help me with the fan? It'll give you a break from the painting."

Angela agreed and followed Danny over to the fan. While Danny positioned it on the wall, Angela stood back and directed him where to put the hanging fixtures. Several minutes later, the fan was in place.

"Tada!" Danny said as he hopped down from the ladder. "It won't really work until we get the electrical stuff all figured out, but we can do that next weekend. Or sometime later."

"But it looks nice."

"Yeah, it does."

"I'm going to go get some light bulbs from the pantry and screw them in."

"But I just told you that they weren't going to work!" Danny called after her. "You just don't want to paint anymore!"

"Am I that obvious?" Angela grinned over her shoulder.

When she came back, Danny had taken it upon himself to finish her painting job. She smiled to herself as she climbed the ladder and began to screw in the light bulbs. They were a little awkward to get in at first and she had some trouble. It was a full five minutes before she got the first two in.

As she began on the third bulb, she realized that something was missing. The wind was still blowing from the window… the music was still on softly…

Angela turned and saw that Danny had abandoned the paint roller and was simply standing and watching her.

She tilted her head and grinned. "What? I know I have paint on my face. And nose thanks to you."

He paused for a few seconds with a calm, careless look about him.

"I love you."

He said it quite casually. His hands were resting in his pockets lazily and he was just watching her as if she was some kind of interesting bird in a tree. There was a small trace of a smile on his face, but the look he had was one that she had only just begun to see. It was calm, very relaxed, but there was something that Angela couldn't quite pinpoint. He wore that face when she woke up next to him to find him already awake, though he had watched her sleep. Sometimes he wore it when she was making dinner, and she was ranting about her day. Sometimes he wore it at the soft, quite parts of their evenings when they were simply sitting in one of their apartments reading.

She cast her eyes down to her hands which held the other light bulbs before meeting his eyes again with a soft smile.

"I love you too."

They stood there for a long time, simply gazing at each other, not really wanting to move, not wanting anything to change or a moment to slip by them.

**A/N:** Aww. Cute.

It was really WEIRD because ten minutes after I finished writing this chapter, I went out to get something to eat or something, and I walked through the living room and my dad was sitting there on the floor _putting together a ceiling fan._ It was SO WEIRD. I was like "WHAT. WHERE'S DANNY?!"

Ok, so. You wanna know something uber scary? Exams are the week after next. How INSANE is that?! I mean, Thanksgiving break was like last week! WHAT.

So this weekend is basically FULL of writing papers and studying for tests. I think I have four papers and two tests next week. Crazy, much? Oh yes.

ANYWAYS. I hope that anyone taking exams does well! And I hope that you don't _die_ from the pressure like I might! I hope I make it through!

Have a marvelous weekend everyone!

-Laura

PS- Twist next chapter. Get excited.

PPS- The whitewashing/Tom reference is from Tom Sawyer… just in case someone didn't get that reference. Haha.


	18. 018: Tears Of Time

018: Tears of Time

Fridays were possibly Angela's favorite days ever. Especially when there weren't any cases. Truthfully, it had been a relatively slow day, and normally Angela would welcome any kind of case, but they had been running cases back to back, sometimes even overlapping for the last three weeks.

A little after four, Angela was turning off her computer when Vivian approached her.

"Oh, say it isn't so," Angela said apprehensively. "I thought we could have a nice weekend…"

Vivian just smiled. "Relax. You're in the clear."

"And through with all of the paperwork," she declared proudly. "You know if the bad guys with guns don't kill me, I swear to God all of those papers will."

"From a viciously bad paper cut?" Martin teased as he walked by the two of them on the way to his desk to finish his last few forms.

"Oh, ha ha, Martin," she said sarcastically. "You're just so clever."

"Ok, well, I'm heading out guys," Vivian announced to the bullpen. "I'll see you on Monday. If the shock of the weekend doesn't kill me first."

"That's a headline for you," Samantha grinned. "_FBI agents killed off by paper cuts and weekends."_

"You know, I'm starting to see why you and Martin get along so well," Angela laughed as she walked towards Danny's desk.

"Hey," he said, flipping through his many sheets of paper.

"Hey…" Angela put a hand on his shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. "I'm going to head to my place and maybe go for a run."

"A run?"

She shrugged. "Just to completely tire me out so that we can have a nice long, very lazy movie night tonight."

"That sounds good then. I'll be there when I finish this," Danny said, indicating his paperwork. "Hopefully I won't be too long."

"Ok. I'll see you then."

With another quick squeeze of his shoulder, Angela turned down the hall and headed home.

---

Angela hummed a song that she had stuck in her head from the radio playing in her car as she picked up the mail from her box down stairs. She was so happy that it was the weekend and that she had the next seventy-two hours with the man that she loved. There had been very little room for romantic play for the past three weeks: it had been hard enough getting four hours of sleep each night.

The elevator doors opened onto her floor and she sifted through the mail while also trying to search for her keys in her purse. Once the door opened, she set down the mail, not really looking at any of the letters, and went to her bedroom to change.

She tossed a tie of Danny's from the closet doorknob onto her unmade bed as she searched for some jogging clothes. She changed quickly and as she was lacing up her shoes, she finally looked at the mail.

"Junk… junk… junk… bill… oh, an invitation… bill…"

The last piece of mail she held in her hands for several seconds with a furrowed brow. It was addressed to her and the return address in the corner read "Dallas FBI Headquarters." What now? She wanted nothing to do with Dallas since… well, the Incident.

Curiosity got the best of her, and she opened the letter, leaving her left shoe only half-way tied.

Whatever she was expecting to be inside that envelope definitely wasn't what she found.

The lining of the envelope was a gold coloring and the card inside was a light cream color. On the front of the card was a black and white picture of small group of people gathered around a grave with their heads bowed. Angela knew what the inside of the card would read before she even opened it.

_Please join us for the one year anniversary_

_Of the death of a great_

_Agent, brother, son, uncle, and man:_

_Brady Miller_

_Who was taken from the world_

_Far too early_

_But left us with such lasting memories_

_That we will never be able_

_To forget._

Angela stared at the card for an immeasurable amount of time, letting the words sink in all over again. All of the feelings and emotions that seemed to have slunk away from her since last year after the Incident seemed to begin to rise again. But instead of breaking down, Angela just sat there, unable to move.

She remained still, her mind blank, her emotions dead, and her left shoe still untied.

---

The sound of the key jingling in the door brought Angela to semi-awareness of where she was. She could barely make out Danny's voice coming from somewhere in the apartment.

"Angela!" he called. "Ang!"

He came into the bedroom to find her staring off at the corner of the room with the letter her in hand. She realized that he was there now, and quickly tucked the letter away.

"Hey! I thought you said you were going to go jogging!" he laughed, not noticing right away that there was something off about her. "Change your mind?"

"Uh, yeah, I guess so," Angela said. Her voice seemed so distant.

Danny must have realized that something was wrong. His smile halted as his eyes ran over her face multiple times. "Is everything alright?"

"What? Oh, yeah. I just… I'm just tired… that's all," she lied quickly, trying to pull on a smile.

"Ok…" Danny said, not fully convinced, but he shrugged it off. "Well, then let's just plop ourselves on that little couch of yours out there and pop in a movie because I am so beat and I want nothing more than to watch John Cusack and Jeremy Piven."

Angela didn't reply but stayed where she was on the bed, looking at the floor, beginning to get lost in thought again.

"Ang… Angela… what's wrong with you? _Serendipity _is one of your favorite movies…"

"Oh, what? Yeah, yeah, it is," she said, jerking her head up, trying to recover. "I'm sorry I'm just tired, that's all."

Danny was once again not fully convinced. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Come on, let's go watch it."

---

Angela had drifted in and out of sleep for the past five hours. She had missed most of the movie, and only just now realized that she was in her bed with Danny's arm draped over her waist and his fingers intertwined with hers loosely. The skin on his hands and fingers was rough but it made Angela feel very well protected for some reason. She often traced the lines on his hands to help her get to sleep.

But not tonight. She knew she wasn't going to be able to sleep well tonight.

Untangling herself gently from Danny's hold, Angela slipped quietly out of her bedroom and into the living room. She pulled the card about Brady's service that she had hid under the other mail out and sat on the couch, reading it over and over and over again.

For a few minutes, the horrible images of Brady's death replayed in her mind. The men who had taken him from her life. The sound of the gunshot. The hole that he had left in everyone's hearts.

But after awhile, those images began to fade. They were replaced of memories of how things used to be when they were partners. He had this really quirky sense of humor that always made her smile, but he could change on a dime if the situation presented itself. Angela grinned at a memory of a Christmas party where Brady had single handedly managed to get every agent in the office to sing along with him "The Twelve Days of Christmas."

She remembered the whispers that used to spread around the office like wildfire that she and Brady were involved, but that was hardly the case. Brady was like a big brother to Angela, always watching her back, teasing her enough to get her smiling, but never letting anyone else lay a hand on her. Besides, he had always been heavily involved with another woman outside the office. They had had their rough patches though, and Angela was always the first person who Brady came to. He would go on and on about how women were impossible to understand which was enough to make Angela simply giggle.

Angela didn't know how long she had sat there before she heard the creaking of the bed from the next room. She turned and saw a very sleepy Danny emerge from the room. He ruffled his hair lazily and stopped when he saw her sitting on the couch.

He didn't say anything but simply sat down next to her. After a few moments, Angela handed him the card without saying anything. Danny read it, but still remained silent. After a few moments he put an arm around Angela's shoulder and brought her close to him and kissed her on her temple. She was only dimly aware that a large, fat tear had leaked from her eye.

"We can go," Danny finally whispered in her ear as he squeezed her shoulders tight.

"We?"

Danny smiled gently and kissed her on the cheek. "You're going to want someone there with you."

"You'd go?"

"To the ends of the earth."

Angela looked at him for several more seconds before blinking out two more fat tears and burying her face into his chest. She cried silently into his shirt until she could cry no more.

They didn't move. Danny and Angela lay on the couch holding each other as if daring fate to break them apart.

**A/N:** A little plot to keep the story going. It's a cute little plotline, and you'll see how Angela and Danny develop together. It's quite cute.

OVER 6100 READS! You guys are AMAZING. Loveeee!

And over 100 reviews! You guys LOVE.

Keep on reading and reviewing!

Gah exams are so close! But that means that the break is close! Yay! Have a wonderful rest of the week!

-Laura


	19. 019: The Ends Of The Earth

019: The Ends of the Earth

With permission from Jack, Danny and Angela took Friday through Saturday off of the next weekend to fly down to Dallas for the ceremony. Two other agents had been put in temporarily to fill in for them in case an emergency came up.

Angela had been noticeably quieter for the past week since the invitation came in the mail, and Danny and the other seemed to have noticed. She assumed that Danny had given them a small heads up to not ask her any questions because none of them had talked to her about her unusual behavior. She was extremely introverted especially at home, and it was hard on Danny. He tried to be understanding to her situation and was very good at reading her moods. He surprised her that week with making a simple dinner nearly every night, and then just staying the night with her to keep her company.

Late Friday afternoon, the two of them hauled their stuff out to the airport and caught a seven o'clock flight out to Dallas/Fort Worth Airport. Danny fell asleep soon after they were in the air, but Angela started to become increasingly nervous and fidgety. Although she was more than willing to go to Brady's memorial service, she was not looking forward to seeing her fellow Dallas agents who had scorned her after the Incident.

She had never really liked any of them when she first began working right out of college, but after the Incident, they took to talking about her behind her back and accusing her for not preventing Brady's death. It was more than she could stand.

Nearly five hours later, Danny and Angela had landed, gathered their luggage, and driven to a small motel.

"This isn't as bad as I thought it would be," Danny said as he entered the room, breaking the silence that had been surrounding them for the last few hours.

"You did well," Angela said, giving him a tired smile.

"You look exhausted. Didn't you sleep on the plane?"

Angela shook her head. "I couldn't."

There was a small pause as Danny debated whether to speak the name. "Brady?"

She didn't say anything but fingered the hem of her shirt and then shrugged. "And the other agents…"

"They won't say anything bad, Ang," he said softly.

"I know… but just seeing them again…"

"Hey, we're here for one reason and one reason only, ok?" Danny said seriously walking over to her and taking her shoulders in his hands. "This isn't going to be like a high school reunion. You don't owe these people anything. You're here for Brady. That's it."

Angela nodded. "Yeah…"

"Now go change and go to bed," he said as his tone softened and he tucked some of her dark red hair behind her ear.

Surprisingly Angela slept fairly well that night. It was odd to wake up in the morning and look out the window and see the downtown Dallas skyline. It was all too familiar.

Danny woke soon after she did and they got dressed in relative silence. It was as if they were just acting in a muted television; it all seemed so surreal. Angela still had hard times believing that Brady was really dead, and now that she was going to the one year mark service all of her emotions seemed to be resurfacing.

The service was being held in the cemetery where Brady had been buried, with a few rows of fold out chairs and a fold out table where several large framed pictures were standing and four or five bouquets of flowers. It was May 14th, exactly a year after the Incident. The weather as perfect: the sky was the brightest shade of blue with a few puffy white clouds spread out among the azure abyss. There was a slight breeze, ruffling Danny's short black hair and catching a few of the flower petals that had fallen to the ground. Angela felt it was as if God was shining down his greatest day in honor of one of the bravest and most decent men that had ever graced earth.

The moment that Danny and Angela set foot in the cemetery, heads seemed to turn back. Whispers started to fill the breeze and Angela felt may pairs of eyes on her. Danny seemed to have noticed for he took her hand firmly and gave it a squeeze. They chose seats in the middle of the chairs, though no one sat near them, but it didn't matter to Angela.

The service started soon after they arrived. It wasn't anything ornate, nothing too overly sentimental. A pastor read a few passages from the Bible, and turned the service over to Agent Beckers.

Angela had always liked Agent Beckers; he was very adamant to have her on his team and he was the one who paired her with Brady. He was much like Jack but he probably had a few years on him. Jack's hard and sometimes cold demeanor (though it quickly changed once someone got to know him) was completely different to Agent Beckers' quiet and contemplative manner. He was almost a fatherly figure to the agents, and used this figure to win over the confidence of the suspects. When provoked however, Beckers turned on a dime and became one hell of an enemy.

"Brady Miller was not just an agent on my team," Beckers began in a somber tone. "Brady was a real person. A person with great heart and courage. A person who fought for justice and the lives of people every day. On the job, he was the most diligent and talented field agent I think the FBI has ever seen. Off the job, Brady was still an intense, fierce person, but he brought so much light and laughter to us that it just wasn't a day without him. One year ago today, this great man was taken from us in such a cruel manner that it is too horrendous to mention. But I believe that Brady went the way that he wanted to go: doing his job and saving lives. He'd had close calls in the past, some resulting in long stays at the hospital or months in physical therapy. He used to just laugh off the near-death experiences and tell me that when God planned for him to go, he'd go. Brady Miller was not just a man. He was a hero. God bless his soul and may he rest in peace. Amen."

The pastor may have said a prayer afterwards and then said a benediction, but Angela didn't remember. Her mind was with Agent Beckers' words and with Brady's soul. He was right though: Brady died the way he would have wanted to. He didn't want to go with a heart attack or in his sleep. Brady would have wanted to die doing what he put his heart and soul into.

"Angela?"

She looked up and saw Agent Beckers standing in front of her looking down at her as she and Danny stayed seated.

"Agent Beckers," she said softly as she stood up to greet him. "I, uh… hi."

"I wondered if you would come," he said with his paternal, gentle smile as he cast his tired eyes on her face. "I'm so glad you did."

"I owe it to Brady."

"Yes… what a great man…"

There was a small pause before Angela realized that Danny was standing rather awkwardly behind her.

"Oh, um, Agent Beckers, this is Special Agent Danny Taylor. Danny, this is my, uh, old executive agent, Special Agent Michael Beckers."

"Pleased to meet you, sir," Danny said as they shook hands.

"Agents in love?" Beckers asked with a small twinkle in his old, grey eyes.

Angela smiled gently. "Yes, sir."

"Agents do make the best lovers," he said with a small smile. "Hold on to this one, son. She'll treat you well."

"I plan on keeping her for a long time, sir," Danny replied softly.

"You'd work for Jack Malone then, wouldn't you?"

"Yes, sir. For about seven years now."

"Excuse me," Angela said, pulling away from the two male agents. "I've got someone I need to talk to."

She walked away from them as they continued to exchange facts about their respective FBI offices. Angela walked slowly between the small groups of people who were talking softly among themselves. Several of them cast knowing glances towards her, but she ignored them. She wasn't here for them.

Angela came to the large, forbidding grey headstone away from everyone else and her eyes were wet as she read the inscription.

_Here lies Brady Miller_

_A son_

_A brother_

_A friend_

_An uncle_

_An agent_

_A hero_

_June 6th 1971- May 14th, 2005_

"It's kind of depressing, isn't it?"

Angela turned quickly and saw neither Danny nor Agent Beckers standing behind her. It was Brady.

It took a few second for Angela to realize what was really going on. Last year after the Incident, she had been plagued with several hallucinations of Brady still being alive and having conversations with her. It had scared her half to death, and she called the federalist therapist saying that she was completely sure that she had gone crazy. The therapist had soothed her worries and told her that it wasn't completely unusual for people to have hallucinations of people whom they have recently lost especially right after something as traumatic as seeing Brady getting shot. The therapist said that it was a way for a trauma victim to recover from their grief.

"A little bit," Angela replied with a small smile. "But I like it."

The Brady hallucination walked over to her with his hands in his pockets, tilting his head as he looked at the gravestone.

"Yeah, I suppose. It's kind of hard to say 'Oh, yeah, that's an amazing gravestone.' But they did a nice job on it."

There was a small pause. Angela motioned towards the gravestone. "I didn't know you were an uncle."

"A niece," Brady said, flashing her one of his infamous toothy smiles. "She was six months old when I died. She must be a handful now."

"I bet."

There was another pause as the two of them looked at the gravestone.

"So who's that over there with Mike?" Brady had been the only one who had called Agent Beckers "Mike," and it always made Angela smile.

"Oh, that's Danny. We're… he's my boyfriend."

"Yeah?" Brady's grin grew wider. "Angie's got a boyfriend?"

"Hey, don't look so surprised," she teased.

"Oh, yeah, right, Miss I'll-Never-Have-A-Boyfriend-Because-All-Men-Are-Stupid."

"Danny's different."

"He must be if he's going out with you."

"Hey, play nice."

"He's not an agent, is he?"

Angela nodded. "Field agent out in New York."

"New York? Good God, how did you meet a guy out there?"

"I moved there."

"You _left_ Dallas?" Brady asked incredulously. "You've lived here your entire life."

"Well… after… what happened in May, I just thought it was time for a change."

"Oh…" Brady said softly. "He looks nice."

"He really is."

There was another short pause.

"I've missed you," Angela said, looking at her feet.

"I've missed you too, Angie," he said gently. "But you know it was just my time."

"You don't… blame… me… do you?" Angela asked. The question had been burning in her heart for the past year. She had never stopped feeling guilty for making it out of that building while he had died trying to save everyone.

"Blame you? You're not serious," Brady said, turning towards her. "Angela, my death had nothing to do with you. It was a cruel act of fate. That's all it was. Don't in any way blame yourself for what happened. It was a year ago. You need to let go."

"Let go?"

"Let go of it. Please. For me. Just put it in the past and leave it there."

"I don't want to forget you though."

"Angela, I'm not asking you to forget me," Brady smiled gently. "You just need to let this go. You've got a great guy in your life, your career is really taking off, and your life is finally starting to piece together again. Just let go. Let Danny take care of you."

She paused and was then about to say something when she heard her name from behind her.

"Angela?"

Angela turned away from Brady and saw Danny standing behind her.

"You ready?"

She turned back to look at Brady but he had gone back into the depths of her mind. Her eyes traced over his headstone once more before turning to Danny.

"Let's go home."

**A/N:** No, Angela is _not_ crazy. I think there is some actual post-traumatic stress side affect that's something like what Angela had, so I just expanded on it. It's kind of an interesting way with dealing with death and people you miss.

Anyways, exams are NEXT WEEK! GAH. I'm gonna cry. But this time next week, I'll be DONE! YAY!

Hopefully I'll be able to squeeze in five minutes to post Tuesday's chapter. I don't think it'll be a problem. So look for that.

Once again, thanks for your support and reviews! It's absolutely amazing! Thanks so much!

However, this story is slowly coming to an end. There are twenty-two chapters, so after this one there are only three more left! It's so scary! I can't believe that this story is almost over:(

But, don't fear because the pace picks up once again. This wasn't the major twist that I've been planning. We see some nice team interaction next chapter and then I'll hit you with a twist. It won't hurt. That bad…

Heh.

Have a great weekend everyone! For those of you who are also taking exams, good luck! Study hard!

-Laura


	20. 020: Back To Basics

020: Back to Basics

"Shawn Rutgers. Twenty-three years old. White, short brown hair, brown eyes, and six foot one," Vivian rattled off as she entered the bullpen from Jack's office addressing Samantha, Martin, Danny, and Angela. "Last seen leaving for the grocery store on at 8:34 yesterday evening."

"Occupation?" Martin asked.

"Unemployed."

"Family?"

"Grant and Emily Rutgers, both alive and here in New York, and a sister in Atlanta. Angela, here are the numbers of the parents and the sister. Would you mind calling them up?"

"And I'll put the sister on the next flight to New York," she said taking the sheets from Vivian.

Jack came into the bullpen moments later.

"So far I've got that this guy has a roommate named Terry Gray and he hasn't seen Rutgers since last night. He says that he's 'between jobs.'"

"Gray doesn't bring up any immediate red flags," Martin called from his desk as he looked at the computer screen. "And neither does Shawn Rutgers."

"Angela, I want in-depth background reports on those two. Also check into credit card records and phone logs. Danny and Samantha, I want you to check out the apartment building and Terry Gray. Vivian, Martin, we're going to meet the parents and see what information they can give us."

Everyone nodded and went off to their respective places.

---

"So when was the last time you saw Shawn?" Danny asked as he and Samantha stood and questioned Terry Gray in his apartment. They had expected it to be a rather run down and low-scale apartment considering that Shawn was unemployed, but it was actually a very nice place. The furniture seemed new as well as several of the lamps and chairs. Samantha's eyes were already sweeping the place for anything out of place.

"Uh, well, let's see…" Terry Gray said thoughtfully as he sipped a glass of iced water. Terry was at least thirty, probably a good ten years older than Shawn was. He was dressed casually, but it was apparent that this guy had some kind of money source. He seemed rather relaxed and would answer the questions without any direct sign of avoidance. But Danny didn't trust him. "It must have been last night around eight or eight-thirty."

"Was there anything in Shawn's behavior that would suggest that he would go missing?' Samantha asked, going over the routine questions.

"No, not really," he answered, shaking his head mildly. "He seemed perfectly fine."

"And you never noticed anyone hanging around the building… anyone calling asking for Shawn who you didn't know… anything out of the ordinary?"

"Not that I can think of. I mean, Shawn and I have some different friends, but generally we're in the same circle."

"You know, if you don't mind me saying, I find it a little odd that a guy like you would be sharing an apartment with a guy like Shawn," Danny said with his trademark smile that let anyone who knew him know that he really didn't trust this guy.

Terry's eyes flashed for only a spilt second, but then he immediately pulled on a look of serene confusion. "Why would you say that?"

"Well, Shawn's twenty-three. And you're… well, you're not quite that young, are you?"

"I'm not twenty-three if that's what you're saying, Agent Taylor," Terry said with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "But I don't understand what that has to do with Shawn."

"How did you two meet?" Samantha said, picking up on Danny's vibe.

"At a club. We were both getting drinks, and we got the same one. I've never really met a guy who gets the same drink that I get, so I invited him to sit and drink with me. I guess we just hit it off."

"And then you decided to share an apartment? How does he pay for his share?"

"Ah, I own the apartment. He doesn't have to pay for anything."

Samantha raised her eyebrows. "Why the generous offer?"

Terry shrugged. "He was a nice kid. He needed a little help to get him on his feet in the big city by himself. So I gave him a hand."

"What do you do for a living?"

"I work for a small business called Kidd Inc. We do some manufacturing and shipping of little trinkets. Picture frames and things like that."

"And it doesn't bother you that Shawn doesn't have a job?"

With another shrug, Terry took a small sip from his water glass. "He'll get one eventually. He's a bright kid. Just a little low on street smarts."

---

"The parents weren't much help," Vivian sighed as she walked into the bullpen to see what Angela had found.

"No, they really weren't. They don't have a clue what's going on in Shawn's life. They didn't even know that he was out of a job."

"He hasn't worked a job for over a year now. You think the parents would have known that by now."

"Have you gotten anything on Terry or Shawn out of the backgrounds yet, Angela?" Jack asked as he walked up behind her.

"I was just about to call you," she said with excitement in her voice. "Gray's been charged for running underground gambling twice before, once in Miami and once in Seattle."

"Maybe he's up to it again here," Martin said.

"But then where does Shawn come in?"

"That's what I wondered," Angela said quickly as she turned back to her computer. "Look at this. There was a disappearance of a guy who used to be an "acquaintance" of Gray's in Denver named Zachary Yates. Gray lived there for about three years before he moved to New York last spring. Now according to this report, Yates was involved in a gambling incident right before he went missing. Police thought that Gray might be involved but all of the evidence pointed without a single doubt to Yates."

"So what are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking that Gray knew that he was going to get caught, and he didn't want to get in trouble again. So he framed it on his buddy Yates and then killed him. It's hard to defend yourself if you're dead."

"What's to say that Yates wasn't in it from the beginning?"

Angela shook her head. "That kid had a clear record. Not even a detention in high school. I don't think he had it in him to come up with something like this. His background is just like Shawn's: comes from a lower-class family without a lot of money and without much street smarts. They both thought that found a real winning deal meeting and befriending this wealthy guy who watched out for him financially."

"Ok, so let's say that Gray is trying to do his gambling rig in New York. He makes a few buddies, and they help him set up the whole deal. He meets Shawn and sees another Zachary Yates. So what does Gray get in return for letting Shawn crash at his place?"

"Maybe he's making Shawn do all of his dirty work. Collecting the money from the gamblers," Vivian suggested. "Maybe something went wrong."

Angela's desk phone rang. The caller ID flashed "Taylor" and she pressed the speaker button.

"What'd you get on Terry Gray, Danny?" she asked.

"Uh, nothing that would help us much," Danny said. "We just left. But I don't like that guy. I think we should tell Jack to put surveillance on him."

"We're going to, Danny," Jack said.

"Whoa, Jack? Oh, speaker phone?"

"Yeah."

"Ah. That could have been awkward," Danny said with a small chuckle. "So what do you want us to do, Jack?"

"Why don't you and Samantha stay and watch Gray and follow him if he takes off. We'll send backup in a few minutes."

"What's the deal with him?"

"We'll explain when we get there. For now just keep your eye on him."

"Alright. We'll do that."

There was a click from the phone as Danny hung up. Jack ushered Martin, Vivian, and Angela out of the bullpen and down to the elevator to accompany Danny and Samantha in the capture of Terry Gray.

**A/N:** SORRY. EXAMS.

And my internet is being retarded. I'm really sorry guys.

Anyways, I know things are a little odd here, but this is just the set up for the next two (!!!) chapters. Things get intense next chapter. I promise.

I really want to reply to your reviews but I can't yet! Tomorrow's my last day of exams though!

Good luck to everyone who's taking exams or working on papers!

-Laura


	21. 021: Fatal

021: Fatal

"So here's the plan," Jack said to his team as they gathered around him a few blocks away from Terry Gray's apartment. They were all dressed as civilians and they were waiting for Jack's orders for how to go about capturing Gray.

"I want this guy to lead us to where Shawn is, so we need to keep it cool. I don't want to just go in there and apprehend him, because my guess is that once he's caught he's not going to give us the location of Shawn."

"But how do you know he's even going to go back to him?" Martin asked. "The kid may already be dead, Jack."

"I don't think he's dead," he said firmly. "And he hasn't left that apartment since yesterday afternoon which means that he needs to go check on Shawn within the next twelve hours. We'll have two cars posted here: Danny and Samantha in one, and Martin and Vivian and me in the other one. Danny and Samantha will be somewhere around here, away from the apartment, and Martin and Vivian, you guys will be parked right outside. Now it's very possible that he's going to catch onto us and we'll be stuck in a high-speed chase."

"But just two cars after him?" Samantha asked doubtfully.

"We'll have other FBI cars scattered through this area, so you'll have plenty of backup. I'll be in one of those cars. Now Angela," he said turning to her. "Remember the Morgan case?"

"The one with the two kidnappers in the warehouse?"

"And you had to lead us through it over radio while you looked at our positions on a screen?"

Angela nodded. "I remember it." How could she not remember it? It was the first time she had fired a gun in six months.

"We're going to be doing the same sort of thing. The tech guys have fixed locators on our cars to a screen that you will have. And someone undercover right now is fixing a locator on Gray's car."

"Just direct you to him?"

"That's it," Jack said with a nod. "You'll be in a car with another agent tailing the chase. Got it?"

"Got it."

"Ok. Let's go."

---

It had been nearly four hours now that Angela and the other agent, Will Breaking, had been in the car, and Terry Gray still hadn't emerged from his apartment.

Angela absentmindedly flipped through the radio stations, but to fit the boredom of the car, nothing seemed to peak her interest.

"Will…" she said in a long, mock-complaining voice as she tossed her head back onto the headrest. "Has he come out _yet?"_

"Like the last fifty times you've asked me, Angela, no," Will Breaking replied in the same bored tone. He was a rather young agent, perhaps twenty-five with bright copper hair and vivid blue eyes. At first he hadn't been able to keep still as this was probably the first field job he'd been on. But his antsy behavior died within the first two hours.

"I really just want to go knock on his door, tell him to get in the damn car, and lead us to the kid."

"And I'll see you in Federal prison," he grinned.

"Probably not worth it…" Angela agreed as she continued to flip through the radio stations. "Oh, hey, I like this song—"

"Damn, there he is," Will said suddenly as he tensed up.

Sure enough, Terry Gray came slowly out of his apartment looking around as if he knew that someone would be watching him. He went to his car cautiously still watching everything around him before he got in. As the car pulled away from the sidewalk, Angela and Will watched as a navy blue car came to life and began to tail it.

"All agents, we've got movement on the suspect moving northeast on Freemont Avenue," Angela said over the radio as she pulled the headset over her head and quickly grabbed her screen which showed a red light moving down a street closely followed by a green one. "Car One is in position following target. All cars copy."

"Car One copy," Vivian said.

"Car Two copy," Danny radioed.

"Car Three copy," Jack's gruff voice said.

Cars Four, Five, Six, Seven, and Eight all relayed their copies to Angela as well as Will started up the engine and moved the car forward. They were to just follow slowly at a distance since Will was too young and green for anything quite this dangerous and Angela wasn't a field agent.

"Car Five, suspect will be passing you at the intersection of Marvel and Mead in about thirty seconds. Car Two, go to Cooper Street and take a left and you'll be on his tail as well."

"Angela, put cars on his sides as well," Jack said over the radio.

"Copy. Car Eight take a u-turn and keep going until you get to the first intersection and then take a right. Car Six go forward and take the first left you come to and keep heading that way."

Angela watched the little colored dots on her screen; the green lights became to follow her instructions and form a horseshoe around the slowly moving green one.

The red light and Car One's green light began to slow as they came to an intersection. All of a sudden, the red light shot through the intersection and over the radio came sounds of screeching tires and a few obscene curses from other drivers.

"Shit, he knows," Martin said over the radio. "Damnit. We're at a red light, and there are cars in front of us."

"All cars, we've got a breakaway and the beginning of a chase at the intersection of Collect and 14th," Angela said quickly. "Cars Three and Four you've got green lights ahead of you. You are the closest to him now. Car Two, take an immediate left and then forward."

"Start your sirens," Jack said over the system. Immediately the sound of eight cars turning on their sirens came over the radio system. Toggling the volume switch, Angela reduced the background noise so she could hear the voices.

"Hey, that means us too, Agent," Angela said pointing at the switch on the dashboard which enabled the sirens. "We've got to keep up with them."

Will switched their sirens on as they tore after the other cars.

"Lead us here, Ang," Danny called over the radio.

"You're going to want to take that left," she replied looking at her screen and finding Danny's car dot. "Oh, damn, Car Seven, take that right there quickly. You're right on top of him."

"Copy. I've got a visual on suspect and Car One."

"Angela, I want him cut off at the front," Jack said. "He's not taking us anywhere anymore. He's just running. Get at least three cars to cut him off."

"Copy. Car Two take that right and then double the speed limit so you can cut him off. Car Eight, take a left and also speed up. And Car… Four, take a left also and get up there. Keep going until I tell you that you're in front of him and then I'll tell you where to go."

"Shit. Angela, this needs to end now," Jack said sharply.

"They're getting up there," Angela said as she watched the green lights speed up rapidly to the right and left of Terry Gray's car on parallel streets, unseen by him. "There, they're ahead of him. Car Two, take an immediate left and then another left and you'll be head on with him. Car Eight and Four, take two sharp rights and you'll be with Car Two and facing the suspect car."

Angela watched as the green dots followed her instructions. There was finally a circle of green dots surrounding the red one. But then—

"Holy shit, what the—"

There were several rapid gun shots over the radio and a scream and shout.

"Talk to me," Angela said urgently over the radio. "What's going on?"

"He's shooting at one of the cars!" Martin shouted. "Oh, _fuck_, he's shooting at Samantha and Danny!"

More gunshots sounded over the radio. There was a screeching of tires and then a loud crash.

Angela's heart had seemingly stopped beating. What happened to Danny?

_Oh, God, let him be alive. Let him be alright. Dear God, let him be alright._

Suddenly there was another screeching of tires, and then the sound of slamming doors and loud, yelling voices.

"FBI! Get out of the car now! Hands in the air!"

The next few seconds were filled with yelling and sirens before Jack radioed them again. "Suspect apprehended and now unarmed."

By this time, Will and Angela pulled up to the scene. They got out quickly, and hurried over. Angela's heart was in her throat and she felt as if she was going to throw up.

Jack approached her quickly. She saw him and before she could think of anything else she said, "Where's Danny? Where's the car? Are they alright? Did he get shot?"

"The ambulance is on the way," he said quickly, holding her shoulders and leading her towards the crashed car. "Gray started shooting at them as they came towards him. Danny must have lost control of the car, and they crashed."

The navy blue car had been flipped upside down and broken glass lay all around it. The windows were so badly cracked that Angela couldn't see inside of them, but just the thought that Danny was trapped in there made her feel sicker and sicker.

"Oh, my God. Oh, my God." Angela felt as if she was hyperventilating. "But he's going to be ok, right?"

Jack hesitated before he answered, but he didn't get a chance as the ambulance roared to the scene. EMTs jumped out of back of the car and started for the crashed car.

"We've got two people trapped in a flipped car," one called to others as the team quickly but cautiously opened the upside door car door. "They may have bullet wounds as well."

After a tense minute, the team pulled the first person from the wreck. Her blonde hair was tangled and dirty and her face was bloodied. There was a large gash over her left eye. But she didn't look like she was moving.

There was a dry sob from behind Angela. She turned and saw Martin looking on with an indescribable look of pain on his face as he watched the EMTs take Samantha's form away from the wreckage.

"I've got a weak pulse on the female," called one of the EMTs.

Angela tore her eyes away from Samantha as she watched others work at getting the second body from the car.

Another minute passed by. And then another.

_Why is it taking so long? Just get him out of the damn car and take him to the hospital. He's going to be alright._

After what seemed like hours, a second form was dragged out of the wrecked car. Angela nearly collapsed as they mounted him onto a gurney: his face was pale and there was blood at the corner of his mouth. His left leg was bent at an odd angle. And there was an EMT holding bloodied gauze to his right shoulder.

"Gunshot wound to the right shoulder," called an EMT. "He's conscious, but probably not for long."

Angela and Martin remained motionless as the emergency team quickly loaded the two gurneys with their loved ones on it into the ambulance.

Jack walked quickly over to one of team members and talked with him for a few moments before the EMT nodded and got in the ambulance which left immediately, hurtling down the road.

Neither Martin nor Angela said anything but just looked at Jack.

"They're being taken to St. Vincent's," he said quietly. "It looks like Samantha hit her head pretty hard on something. There's a deep gash on her forehead, but she's unconscious. They were just hoping she'd come out of it."

Jack sighed heavily as he looked at the ground for several second before looking back up at Angela.

"Danny… was shot twice in the shoulder. They're worried about internal bleeding, especially if it nicked an artery. They won't know until they get to some doctors."

Vivian walked up slowly behind Jack with an emotionless look on her face.

"Police now have Terry Gray in custody," she said in a voice much unlike her own. "Jack, he's told us where he was keeping Shawn Rutgers."

He nodded slowly. "I'll go with you to get him. Uh, why don't you two go to the hospital? Agent Adams will escort you."

Angela nodded numbly and blindly followed Martin and Will to the car. She was hardly aware of anything around her anymore. The sounds were muted, her sight was blurred, and her whole body was dulled.

The only thing that was more vivid as ever was the picture of Danny's face in her mind that she feared she would never see again.

**A/N:** I'm hoping this chapter gets a few more reviews than the last one.

Well, school is OUT guys. I'm SO excited. Mostly because I get to write nonstop for two weeks. I'm taking on a huge project which is something quite different than I've ever done before. It's a mix of my _Harry Potter_ and _Eragon_ fan-ness creeping in on me. It's going to be wonderful, and maybe someday when I'm older I'll be able to publish it. But for right now, I think I may just stick with trying to pass my junior year of high school.

I'm also planning to write another Danny centered story (who's shocked by that one?) but it's going to be quite different from this one too. Same loving Danny, a new twist. I shan't give away details here, but it's going to focus less on romance and more on… ok, I can't say it. It's not as romantic as this story, but it's still cute and loving all the same. I think you guys will like it.

Also, if anyone's an _Eragon_ fan, I'm going to try to map out an _Eragon_ fan fiction sometime soon. God knows when I'll have time to write all of these!

ANYWAYS. So this chapter. Leave you hanging? I know last chapter was kind of "… what" but I really had to set up what was going on in this chapter. Anyways. I mustn't give away what may or may not happen in the FINAL chapter, but I shall be posting it (internet permitting) on FRIDAY.

So please look forward to that. If you're traveling for the holidays, stay safe! If you're still finishing up exams, I hope you do well! Study hard!

And I hope you guys don't pee your pants waiting for Friday. :)

-Laura


	22. 022: I Won't Let Go

022: I Won't Let Go

The next seventy-two hours was just an intense blur for Angela. She could hardly separate one day's events from the next. She could only remember sometimes sitting in the waiting room with Martin as they both sat in silence, waiting for news.

Everything seemed to be moving in either fast forward or slow motion around her. Nothing felt real: A doctor coming out to the waiting room, the sound of a loud heart beating, the news that Samantha was conscious, the news that Danny was going into surgery, the dried tears on her face, and the feeling of absolute emptiness.

The first time that Angela remembered anything concrete was late on a Thursday afternoon, about thirty-six hours after they had arrived at the hospital. Martin had fallen asleep in the chair next to her, his mouth slightly open and his head resting on a sweatshirt. Angela was staring blankly at a tile on the ground when a pair of feet stopped in front of her.

She slowly lifted her eyes to look at a doctor who was standing in front of her with a look of concern on his face.

"Angela Harper?" he asked.

"Yes," she said warily.

"I'm Doctor Hobbes," he said, extending his hand to her as she stood up slowly. "You're… uh, Danny Taylor's girlfriend?"

Angela simply nodded. She was too scared to ask any news for fear that it would be something that would break her.

"Well, he's out of surgery now."

"And… he's… going to be alright?" she dared to ask.

Doctor Hobbes hesitated as his eyes rested on Martin's sleeping form. "We hope so. We were able to extract the two bullets, but he's lost a lot of blood. And there's some internal bleeding."

"But… you can fix that, right? I mean, you can just get him some more blood and fix the internal bleeding, right?"

Again the doctor hesitated.

"Just tell me," Angela said softly. "Is he going to make it or not?"

"He's got a fighting chance, but the way that the two bullets were positioned really complicates things. I would have thought that anyone with those wounds would have bled to death within a couple of hours, even with medical attention. But it appears that he's strong."

"He is," she replied quietly. "He is."

There was a small paused between the two of them before Doctor Hobbes spoke again.

"Anyways, I came to tell you that you may visit him if you wish. He'll probably be sleeping, but it's been awhile since his surgery and his signs are as stable as they can be."

"I can see him?"

The doctor nodded.

"Now?"

"Yes, let me show you to his room."

The doctor led her down several halls until they reached number 378. Angela's heart was pounding hard and her knees began to feel weak.

"I'll leave you here then," Doctor Hobbes said.

She nodded before remembering something. "Oh, wait. Samantha Spade? Is she alright?"

"You know her as well?"

"We're all FBI agents. That's her boyfriend out in the waiting room."

"Ah. She's doing fine, but she's still drifting in and out of consciousness. I don't think there will be any permanent head or brain damage, but she shouldn't have visitors quite yet."

"Thank you."

The doctor nodded before leaving Angela outside Danny's door.

It was odd, but it took a lot of willpower to open up the door. Angela was so scared what she would see inside.

A soft, steady beep was coming from a heart rate monitor in the corner with a green line spiking up every second. The room was dark and quite besides the beeping machine. Angela walked cautiously over to the white bed quietly as if scared to disturb the heart machine.

He looked so helpless lying there in the bed. He had an oxygen tube attached to his nostrils and an IV in the top of his hand. There was a large bruise on his left cheek bone. His right shoulder was wrapped in white gauze. His dark black hair was matted and dirty and his face looked pale.

Angela didn't even realize that there were tears streaming down her cheeks, and she hastily tried to wipe them away. She found that she couldn't look at his broken body anymore. She walked over to a chair sitting several feet away from the bed and pulled it up to the side of the bed. She didn't look at him, but instead placed her head on the side of his bed, closed her eyes, and fell asleep.

---

Angela woke up sometime later though she wasn't sure why. It took a few moments for her to realize that there was a soft sound coming from somewhere in the room.

"Ang… Angela…"

She looked up quickly and saw that Danny had a small, tired smile on his face as he looked at her.

"Danny," she whispered gratefully. "Oh, my… how are you?"

"I'm alright," he said in a broken voice. "I ache all over though."

"I'm not surprised."

There was a small pause between them. Then Danny turned his head away from her and looked at the curtains that were covering the windows.

"How long have you been here?" he asked. Something in his voice didn't make Angela feel good.

"Since they brought you in. It's been about forty hours or something like that."

Danny didn't reply but kept his face turned away from her. The room was silent for several minutes.

"Danny… are you alright?" Angela asked gently.

"I'm so sorry," he croaked. He turned his face to her and she was surprised to see a tear running down his cheek.

"What? Danny… Danny, what's wrong? You didn't do anything."

"I put you through all of this again," he said as another tear rolled down. "I didn't mean to…"

"Of course you didn't. But don't blame yourself for what happened, Danny. It's not your fault that you got shot."

"But I promised… I promised that nothing was going to happen to me."

The conversation that they had had nearly three months ago suddenly came back to her.

-

"_Hey… listen to me," he said seriously, brushing her hair out of her face. "You're not going to lose me, ok?"_

"_But… what if something bad happens?"_

"_Nothing's going to happen to me."_

"_How can you say that?"_

"_Because. I just know."_

"_No, you don't, Danny. That's just the point."_

"_Hey, do you trust me?"_

_Angela bit her lip as she looked at him and a tear rolled down her face. Danny's thumb brushed it aside._

"_Do you?" he repeated softly._

_She nodded quietly._

"_Alright then. I promise you. Nothing bad is going to happen to me. I promise."_

_She was silent for awhile. "Promise?"_

"_Promise."_

_They were quiet for awhile longer. She sniffed loudly, and Danny smiled gently. He pulled her into his arms against his large, warm body and kissed her on the side of her head._

"_I promise," he whispered._

-

"Danny…" she said. "It's ok."

"I let you down," he whispered. "I let you down."

"Oh, no, Danny, no you didn't. I couldn't be more proud of you."

"I hurt you."

"No, no, Danny. You keep me who I am today. You keep me going. Danny, I love you. You never let me down."

"You're attached to me. And I'm going to let you down soon. I'm not going to make it."

"Hey, don't talk like that," Angela said seriously as she gritted her teeth. "You are going to be fine. I promise. I talked to the doctor, and he said—"

"He doesn't know what he's talking about," Danny said. Angela suddenly realized how labored his breathing was becoming.

"Danny, you need to take a break. You need to rest."

"I'm so sorry. I didn't want to hurt you."

"Don't talk like that."

"I'm so sorry," he repeated softly. "So sorry."

"No, Danny—"

The door suddenly swung open. Angela turned to see Doctor Hobbes standing in the doorway and several others behind him.

"Excuse me, Miss Harper, but you're going to have to leave."

"But—"

"His vital signs are dropping and if you want to help, you need to leave now."

"He's… he can't…"

"You need to leave now."

A nurse now held onto her shoulders and led her out of the room and closed the door.

"No, no, no, you don't understand," Angela protested as the nurse led her back to the waiting room. "I need to be there. He can't… he's not going to…"

"I know," the nurse soothed as they reached the waiting room. "I know. Let the doctors do their job."

"He can't die," Angela said, with a desperate pleading in her eyes. "He can't."

The nurse squeezed her shoulders sympathetically before leaving her alone in the waiting room again, with Martin still fast asleep in the chair where she had left him.

---

Angela didn't know how many hours or maybe days later it was when she finally prepared to leave the hospital. She no longer had any business here, and it was time for life to restart again.

She was absolutely sure that she would smell like that way-to-clean hospital smell for weeks and weeks. Angela ached for her own bed as she had slept in a hospital waiting room chair for God only knows how many nights.

She walked down the hall to room 378 but found that someone else was already there.

A nurse was standing outside the door, removing the piece of paper that read "Danny Taylor" from the door. It seemed as if the nurse didn't know how to react to Angela's presence so she simply turned and quietly continued down the hall.

Angela walked slowly down the hall to the room and opened the door.

The room had been cleaned and it looked as though bloody Danny Taylor had never set foot in this room even though he had spent easily two weeks in this very room. The bed had been remade with pure white sheets and the curtains were still shut over the windows.

It felt odd to think that he was once here. It was a rather depressing room to be in for the last few hours of your life.

On the chair, Angela noticed that there were a few of Danny's belongings that hadn't yet been collected. She walked over and fetched his tie (one of his favorites, a red and black striped one), his wallet, and his badge.

She flipped the badge open and smiled slowly at his picture on the badge. She touched it gently before closing it again.

There was a knock at the door. Angela turned and was surprised to see the man whose picture was on the badge standing right in front of her.

"Hey, are you ready?" Danny asked her. He was leaning heavily on a cane (which he had grudgingly agreed to use because he thought it made him look like an old man), and had a cute, bright grin on his face. His arm was in a sling to reduce movement of his injured shoulder.

"Yeah, I was just getting a few of your _trivial _belongings," she said, holding them up. "You know, like your badge and wallet."

"Hey, that tie is _not_ trivial," he said as he tried to grab it from her.

"If you want it…" Angela teased as she held it behind her back. "You'll have to win it from me."

Danny grinned and leaned down and kissed her. Both of them quickly forgot about the tie as they indulged themselves in the simple act.

"Let's go home," Angela said gently as he pulled away from her.

"I'll second that," Danny whispered as he kissed her on the top of her head.

And the two of them left as Angela draped his tie around her neck and Danny attempted to trip her with his cane, both knowing that while they could never promise that nothing would ever happen to one of them, they would always, always love each other.

---

**THE END**

---

**A/N:** I can't believe it's over.

I really, really, really can't. I mean, when did I first start this thing? I don't even remember.

October. This story has been running for two and half months solid. Good God. I can't believe it's over! I'm so sad! I'm going to miss every single one of my reviewers, those who have reviewed from the very, very beginning and those who have just recently found the story. I think I might tear up here…

Oh goodness.

Moving on.

Well, I really, really, really hope you guys have enjoyed reading this story as much as I had fun writing it. Writing is and always will be one of my highest passions and I intend to write until the day I die.

I credit my inspiration to our lovely Danny Taylor. May the writers of the show bring back your wonderful nature that once captivated and inspired many fans. May you shed your unbecoming façade of "puppy love" and may you bring back your wit, charm, and careful nature that we all adore. May you toss aside those characters who cripple your own unique character and may you bring back life to the show. To Danny Taylor.

I got a little emotional as I wrote that.

Next on Laura's agenda is to replenish my muse and to strike up another fan fiction. I've got to rewrite the ending to one story, draft this next Danny story, and finish the outline of my book. Not to mention live life.

So for awhile, I shall be on hiatus. I will always be writing, but I write better when I know that I don't have a deadline. Besides, who wants rushed writing?

Once again, thank you for making this story such a great success (over 8100 reads and 139 reviews! You guys are **FANTASTIC!**) and I look forward to what you have to say for my next story.

Have a GREAT weekend, a SPLENDID holiday, and a MAGNIFICENT New Year!

With love and appreciation,

-Laura


End file.
